Haverhill

Planned Sale of Haverhill Nursing Home at Center of Care Controversy

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(Additional photograph below.)

As the state moves to revoke RegalCare of a dozen nursing home licenses following a Boston Globe Spotlight report on debilitating cost cutting, the company’s chief is involved in an effort to buy a nonprofit nursing home in Haverhill. Last June, Covenant Health President and CEO Stephen J. Grubbs told staff the nonprofit planned to sell its 160-bed Penacook Place in downtown Haverhill to Azure Healthcare. Filings at the Secretary of State’s Corporations Division, however, suggest Azriel Lieberman, founder of Azure Healthcare Management, is working with RegalCare CEO Eliyahu Mirlis on the purchase of the Haverhill home. Lieberman is listed as manager of OC Penacook Center, in a filing last November, while Mirlis filed last March to create 150 Water St Realty, a name mirroring the address of Penacook Place.  State Rep. Andy X. Vargas told WHAV Wednesday he is alarmed to see the pair working together.

Haverhill

Former Holy Family Hospitals Show Improved Profitability in Report

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Hospitals Financials Improved Ahead of ‘Most Disruptive Wave’
By Alison Kuznitz

The former Holy Family Hospital and its new parent, Merrimack Health, showed improved profitability during the last fiscal year. It was among a majority of Massachusetts hospitals that boosted their profitability, but a trade group offered a cautionary note this week due to federal policy changes that could upend the gains. According to the state Center for Health Information and Analysis—or CHIA, the former Holy Family Hospital posted the highest acute hospital total margin of 27.4%. Merrimack Health, the rebranded system encompassing Lawrence General Hospital and Holy Family Hospital’s campuses in Haverhill and Methuen, had the highest total margin—11.5%—among multi-acute health systems. Holy Family Hospital was salvaged amid the Steward Health Care bankruptcy crisis. CHIA noted both entities “received state funding and one-time revenues related to Merrimack Health’s acquisition of Holy Family Hospital.”

The report also captured how much money hospitals are pouring into the use of temporary workers, a sore point for nurses who have gone on strike or are preparing to walk off the job as they push for higher wages.

Health

YWCA Converts Former Massage Parlor into Space for Victims

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YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts, which serves Greater Lawrence, Haverhill and other Essex County communities, said it is opening a new domestic violence and sexual assault services office in Methuen where women can escape. The YWCA and Methuen said the basement at the 5 Wallace St. space was once used in an alleged human trafficking operation. It will now be used as a space for victims of sex crimes, domestic violence and human trafficking to meet with counselors and advocates and host workshops for survivors. “This community has an opportunity to look at this location differently,” said Maricelis Ortiz, CEO of the YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts.

Haverhill

Merrimack Valley Project Details $1M Investment in Health Programs

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The Merrimack Valley Project is detailing how it plans to spend $1 million over five years to build an intergenerational organizing movement for health equity. As WHAV reported Monday, the nonprofit will share in $17.9 million in Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds distributed statewide. Merrimack Valley Project Executive Director Julio Mejia outlined his background and how it helps shape the organization’s goals. “I was raised in Lawrence in a working-class immigrant family and I have seen firsthand how housing costs, access to healthcare and immigration policies affect our neighbors. For decades, the Merrimack Valley Project has worked alongside residents, especially people with lived experience, to organize for safer housing, better community health outcomes and protections for immigrant families,” he said.

Haverhill

Healey Unwraps MassHealth Outreach Program in Haverhill Visit

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(Additional photographic gallery below.)

Gov. Maura Healey was in Haverhill Tuesday to launch an education campaign for residents, who already qualify for health insurance help, but face onerous paperwork to remain on MassHealth insurance after new federal rules go into effect. Healey, joined by physician and state Health and Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah, MassHealth Assistant Secretary Ryan Schwarz and Health Care For All Executive Director Jennifer Lemmerman, explained President Donald Trump’s plan to downsize Medicaid was passed by Congress last year. “It cut a trillion dollars—one trillion dollars—from healthcare. Of course, they did, they called it ‘Big and Beautiful,’ because it basically was tax cuts for the wealthiest,” the governor said. Healey said a state awareness program, “Keep Your Coverage,” is aimed at people who still qualify for Medicaid—called MassHealth here—such as those who work in low paying jobs or are students over 26 that are paying their way through college.

Health

Nurses Object to ‘Abrupt and Disappointing Ending’ to Methuen Birthing Center

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Maternity nurses at Merrimack Health Methuen expressed concern Wednesday at, what they called, next week’s earlier-than-planned closing of the Maternity and Newborn Service. Nurses called on the state to “closely monitor the care provided” when services are consolidated at the former Lawrence General Hospital. Members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association said the closing, originally planned for Aug. 1, is coming “despite the hospital’s failure to adequately address nurses’ and [Department of Public Health’s] concerns regarding the readiness of Lawrence General Hospital to safely absorb those patients.”

In a statement, Merrimack Health told WHAV, “preparations continue to wind down operations at the site,” and the earlier closing is intended to “minimize disruption for birthing patients and avoid the need for transfers.”

“Patients who go into active labor after June 29 will be admitted to maternity services at Lawrence Hospital. Additionally, Methuen Hospital’s Emergency Department remains ready to evaluate and care for any maternity patient who may arrive at the hospital, including safely facilitating transfer to Lawrence Hospital,” the statement said.

Haverhill

State Asks Merrimack Health for Details on Methuen Maternity Closing

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The state Department of Public Health last week called on Merrimack Health to provide a more detailed plan ahead of closing maternal and newborn services at the former Holy Family Hospital in Methuen. The state has no power to deny Merrimack Health’s plans to consolidate services at the former Lawrence General Hospital. Officials asked, however, that the hospital to respond to concerns raised at a May 26 public hearing “regarding the availability of labor and delivery operating rooms, the status of repairs needed and the readiness of Merrimack Health Lawrence Hospital to care for additional patients without compromising the well-being of the existing patient population.”

At the hearing, Karen Powers, co-chair of Massachusetts Nurses Association bargaining unit and a labor and delivery nurse at Merrimack Health, said the hospital network did not take steps in the aftermath of Steward Health Care to communicate with patients and rebuild lost trust. “Despite repeated requests to invest in publicity and reassure the community that we were still here and still providing exceptional care, nothing was done,” she said. Powers also questioned how patients’ needs will be met while “extensive work” takes place in Lawrence that will likely not be complete by the Aug.

Haverhill

Merrimack Health Plans to End Maternity Services in Methuen, Remove Beds in Haverhill, Methuen

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Merrimack Health said this morning it plans to end maternity and neonatal services in four months at the former Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, consolidate those services in Lawrence and remove unused pediatric beds in Haverhill and Methuen. Merrimack Health reported in a statement, it filed a Closure of Essential Services application on behalf of Methuen Hospital with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The statement added, about 85 employees will be affected but most will be transferred within the hospital system. “Historically, these two hospitals competed for maternity services—less than two miles apart,” said Merrimack Health President and CEO Diana Richardson. “We are bringing together two trusted programs that will allow for a more seamless experience for mothers, babies and families and greater collaboration among providers.