Beacon Hill News

Healey Comment Suggests Saving Haverhill Campus of Holy Family Hospital Still Possible

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WHAV staff contributed to this report by Alison Kuznitz. Gov. Maura T. Healey hinted Thursday that Holy Family Hospital’s Haverhill campus might still be saved. With potential deals, such as Lawrence General Hospital’s potential bid for Holy Family Hospital, still up in the air, the governor’s new mention of six campuses for five Steward Hospitals suggests a potential path for keeping Holy Family Hospital. As only WHAV reported last Saturday, Sen. Barry R. Finegold s said he didn’t know the contents of Lawrence General Hospital’s final bid, but noted, “I believe the Haverhill Campus of Holy Family is integral to the health care needs of the Merrimack Valley and should he included in LGH bid.”

Healey pleaded Thursday for the company’s lenders to strike a deal to allow the facilities to be sold, acknowledging financial stakes for taxpayers amid repeated delays. The governor confirmed Massachusetts has been sending financial aid to the hospitals to keep them afloat through August, but she wouldn’t say whether the latest snag in U.S. Bankruptcy Court may end up costing Massachusetts more money.

Haverhill

Delays in Naming Hospital Bidders, Closing on Sales Bring Complaints from Unions, Feds

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The possible closing of Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill is adding to tensions over Steward Health Care’s bankruptcy proceedings in Texas. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher M. Lopez agreed to delay until Friday final decisions on the bidders and fates of area hospitals including Holy Family Hospital’s campuses in Haverhill and Methuen. As WHAV reported Saturday, Lawrence General Hospital’s name has been raised by several officials as the sole bidder for Holy Family Hospital. Reports emerged, however, that absent state help, Lawrence would forgo the Haverhill campus. While Steward said in a filing Monday with the court that Kinderhook Industries has agreed to buy the company’s Stewardship Health physician network, the names of individual hospital bidders are still not publicly confirmed.

Community Spotlight

Podcast: Haverhill Mayor Hosts Free Community Dinner Tuesday to Showcase Mental Health Resources

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Haverhill police and schools and health representatives are among those joining Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett Tuesday for a free community dinner focused on available mental health resources. Mental wellness professionals will be available to answer questions about help and support available for adults, young adults, children and teen. YMCA Regional Executive Director Tracy Fuller told listeners of WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program how the event came about and what to expect. “Earlier this spring, the mayor had a community breakfast over at Somebody Cares to really look into identify pockets in neighborhoods of those that may need some support. So, she had identified and asked if the Y was willing to host, kind of, in the Acre neighborhood.

Haverhill

Haverhill Hospital Faces Closing as State, Bidder Appear to Seal Fate; Finegold Urges Resolution

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Fears that Haverhill will cease to have a hospital within its borders were renewed late Friday when the sole bidder for Holy Family Hospital signaled it could not keep the Haverhill campus open without state help. The bidder, identified by several parties as Lawrence General Hospital, had been in final negotiations to buy the hospital when the Haverhill real estate became a sticking point. Sen. Barry R. Finegold told WHAV early Saturday morning the Haverhill hospital must be saved. “I don’t know what (the) LGH final bid included as the situation is very fluid, but I believe the Haverhill Campus of Holy Family is integral to the health care needs of the Merrimack Valley and should he included in LGH bid,” Finegold said via text message. It appeared earlier in the week that one obstacle in the way of using the hospital’s real estate had been removed when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez voided the leases parent Steward Health Care negotiated when it sold its properties in 2016.

Haverhill

Haverhill Recovery Support Group Continues Meeting Thursday Night

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The Haverhill Overdose Prevention Education—or HOPE—team of Northeastern Family Institute sponsors a weekly recovery support group Thursday nights. The peer support group helps those 18 and up build a foundation of support and begin their journey of recovery with free meetings with coffee and refreshments. Certified HOPE Recovery Coaches Bob and Andrea, as well as HOPE Program Director Charlie Manzi facilitate the meetings based on their lived experiences with recovery. Meetings take place every Thursdays, from 5:30-7 p.m., at NFI Massachusetts, 76 Winter St., Haverhill. Attendees may either walk in or sign up in advance by calling 978-373-1181, ext.

Business Bulletin

Beth Israel Lahey Health Gives $300,000 to Eliot Community Human Services in Haverhill

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Beth Israel Lahey Health is awarding $1.2 million to four Gateway City organizations to implement Behavioral Health Navigator Programs as part of a new initiative aimed at increasing access to mental health and substance use services and supports for community residents. Through a competitive process, four nonprofit organizations in Haverhill, Lynn, Peabody and Quincy will receive $300,000 each from 2024 to 2027 to launch Behavioral Health Navigator Programs in their communities. Grants pay for the hiring, training and support of community-based behavioral health navigators who will work to identify, understand and effectively connect residents experiencing mental health and substance use issues to appropriate support and assistance. The grants will also fund educational activities in the communities focused on increasing awareness of available mental health and substance use resources. Recipients will be encouraged to participate in no-cost training, provided by BILH digital health experts, on how to help individuals increase digital literacy and navigate options for mental health and well-being.

Haverhill

Haverhill Learns of Mosquito-Borne Disease Risk, Urges Caution, Plans Spraying Monday Night

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The City of Haverhill is urging residents to take precautions against mosquito bites and plans to undertake emergency spraying Monday night after a pool of water tested positive this past Tuesday for West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis. Mayor Melinda E. Barrett said mosquito control takes place Monday, after 8:30 p.m., in an area following Main Street to Kenoza Avenue, Amesbury Road, Kenoza Street, Center Street, Millvale Road, East Broadway, Old Ferry Road, Lincoln Avenue and Water Street then back to Main Street. The city will spray the insecticide Zenivex E4 RTU Monday night and advises residents in the affected areas to stay inside, bring pets inside and keep windows closed between 8:30 and midnight. Officials added the Mosquito Control group will do additional spraying of fresh-water wetlands and flooded areas in the coming weeks to reduce the hatching of mosquitoes. “The product only works for about 15 minutes in the air and then dissipates with no residue.

Health

Trahan Calls on U.S. Attorney General, Other Feds to Investigate Steward Health Care

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Congresswoman Lori Trahan this week called on federal agencies to investigate actions by Steward Health Care that led to the company’s bankruptcy and proposed hospital closings. In a letter U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina M. Khan, Trahan called on the officials to “heavily scrutinize these closure announcements as well as the decisions by Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre and his colleagues that led to this outcome, including the reported surveillance of potential critics and whistleblowers who could have sounded the alarm on this crisis sooner.”

The letter, dated July 29, came as word spread of Steward’s planned closings of Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer and Carney Hospital in Dorchester and of difficulties proposed buyers of other hospitals are facing in buying or renting hospital properties that were sold in 2016 and leased back to Steward. “While this pattern of big healthcare system acquisitions and subsequent sale-leaseback deals benefitted Cerberus and Steward’s executives and shareholders, the hospital systems themselves were crumbling. (Medical Properties Trust) has extracted exorbitant rent prices from these hospitals, continuing to strip money from failing healthcare systems at no expense to Cerberus. It has been reported that MPT is charging Steward over $400 million annually in rent for its 35 hospitals,” she wrote.