Gov. Maura T. Healey confirmed today WHAV reports dating back to last Saturday that Lawrence General Hospital will take control of Holy Family Hospital and, in a late development Healey first hinted at yesterday, will save both the Haverhill and Methuen campuses.
Healey, Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh and Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein expressed confidence at a press conference this afternoon that final agreements will be worked out. The administration made the announcement after reporting the same to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The governor said Lifespan will take over Morton and Saint Anne’s Hospitals and Boston Medical Center will take over Good Samaritan and Saint Elizabeth before announcing what workers and residents have been hoping to hear.
“And Lawrence General Hospital will purchase both hospital campuses of Holy Family in Haverhill and Methuen. We are grateful for their partnership and their commitment to not only maintaining the quality of care, but to improving the quality of care in these communities, and I am personally so grateful that these entities are now taking over as acquirers of these hospitals,” the governor said.
In a related announcement, Healey said the state will take St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton by eminent domain in order to keep the hospital open while it transitions to Boston Medical Center. She said Boston Medical Center made a qualified bid, but could not reach final agreement with the landlord. Healey said the state will pay $4.5 million to take the hospital and expects Boston Medical Center to reimburse the state with the amount of its bid.
WHAV was the first to report following an interview with state Sen. Pavel M. Payano that qualified bids had been received for Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill and Methuen. It was also the first to report after hearing from Sen. Barry R. Finegold that nonprofit Lawrence General Hospital was initially unable to reach agreement to buy the Haverhill property. The governor acknowledged the back-and-forth turmoil that left the future of some hospitals in doubt.
“Today is a very important day and I wasn’t sure that we were ever going to see this day happen. From where we began many, many months ago with Steward pulling the rug out from all of us in Massachusetts, I wasn’t sure that we were going to be able to get here. I knew it was really important that we do everything we could to get here to find a way to save hospitals, to find a way to save jobs, to protect patients’ access to care, to protect the stability of what is a fragile health care market here and around the country,” she told reporters.
Healey said today is effectively Steward’s last day in Massachusetts.
“It’s a win for Massachusetts because we got rid of a really bad operator. A really bad operator. But, what we have left are incredible doctors and nurses and staff who work and given their blood, sweat and tears at these Steward hospitals because they want to provide care,” she said.
Haverhill state Rep. Andy X. Vargas applauded today’s news, saying “I am deeply grateful for the flexibility and leadership from both Lawrence General Hospital and the Healey-Driscoll administration. Haverhill will have new and responsible leadership at our hospital.”
Holy Family Hospital, Methuen. (Courtesy photograph.)