Quincy Medical Center’s closure delayed
The proposed closure of Quincy Medical Center has been pushed back to Feb. 4, and the attorney general's office on Tuesday raised the possibility of legal action against the hospital's owners.
The original Dec. 31 closure date, announced on Nov. 6 by Steward Health Care System, would have violated the hospital owner's statutory obligations requiring 90 days notice to the state Department of Public Health, according to a letter from Attorney General Martha Coakley's office to an attorney for Steward, which owns the hospital.
Steward cited financial losses and a host of local competitors in the area in its decision to close the hospital, while saying they will have a new outpatient delivery system in Quincy that will include an emergency department and an urgent care center.
A Steward spokeswoman said on Tuesday that the for-profit company is working "closely" with DPH to ensure patient safety in the transition.
"The hospital will cease operations as dictated by patient volume, employee and community needs," Brooke Thurston, the spokeswoman, said in an email. "Based on our analysis, we believe that patient volume will drop off significantly before the end of the year but the State wanted assurances that we would maintain operations until early February if need be."
When they announced their closure plans, Quincy Medical officials said only one fifth of beds at the facility are occupied on average day.
According to Steward, the company has grappled with operating losses of almost $20 million a year despite an investment of $100 million in the hospital after purchasing it in 2011. The majority of patients leave Quincy for inpatient care elsewhere, the company added.
The Department of Public Health has scheduled a Dec. 2 public hearing at Quincy's Point Webster Middle School on the closure.
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