After months of uncertainty over the fate of the Haverhill campus of Holy Family Hospital, Mayor Melinda E. Barrett was among the first in the state to receive word Thursday that it has been preserved.
Barrett told WHAV she received the early afternoon word that Lawrence General Hospital had completed an asset purchase agreement to take over Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill and Methuen.
“It’s a big sigh of relief. We don’t really know the details. We don’t know how everything will look a year from now with Lawrence General having these three facilities and what they’ll do to affect care and streamline their care,” the mayor said.
The shift of the hospital to nonprofit status has one downside. Barrett said the city stands to lose about $250,000 a year in property taxes as the Haverhill campus becomes tax-exempt.
Barrett said residents can count on at least some reassurances. “We do know that we’ll have an emergency room that will take the burden off Lawrence General and Holy Family Methuen.”
While the $28 million purchase price, according to court documents, still must be formally approved next Wednesday by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher M. Lopez, the mayor said she is confident the deal will go through.
“I spoke with the governor earlier today. She was pretty positive that this is going to happen. We’re going to go with them because (state Health and Human Services Secretary) Kate Walsh has been working this for a while, the state has been working this for a while. I’m not anticipating any surprises,” she said.
Lawrence General Hospital President and CEO Abha Agrawal said in a statement, “We are excited about the opportunity to build a true regional healthcare care system in the Merrimack Valley, one that puts quality and safety at the forefront of everything we do and is guided by the principle of caring for our community.”
Barrett welcomed news of the upcoming change of the guard. She explained those hospitals have seen long wait times as residents “self-diverted” away from Haverhill. “We’re not going to see that over eight-, 10-hour wait in the emergency room that people are facing right now.”
The mayor added she believes the state will have to increase reimbursement rates to Lawrence General Hospital to give them “some breathing room.” She also reiterated what she told city councilors about the building being stripped of gear and worse.
“The janitors, which are the least-paid people at the hospital, are going out and buying toilet paper because patients don’t have toilet paper because Steward isn’t paying the bills for the paper companies.”
Both Barrett and Agrawal thanked the area’s federal and state legislative delegations and the unions at Holy Family Hospital.
Besides Holy Family Hospital, Steward Health Care said in a press release, it reached definitive agreements for Lifespan to purchase Morton Hospital and Saint Anne’s Hospital. They continue to work on an agreement to sell Steward’s Good Samaritan Medical Center and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center operations to Boston Medical Center.
Lawrence General Hospital was established in 1875 and remains a private, nonprofit community hospital.