Nurses union to pitch health care receivership plan
Photo | WBJ File
Central Mass. healthcare providers are struggling with shortages of both doctors and nurses.
As hospitals shutter services in the wake of staffing shortages, community members and health care workers will argue Thursday that the state should become responsible for hospitals that are "essential" but threatening to close.
A bill before the Joint Committee on Public Health would give the Department of Public Health the ability to place hospitals or free-standing clinics pending closure into state receivership.
In 1960, Massachusetts had 141 hospitals to serve a population of 5.15 million people. As of 2023, the state had about 60 hospitals serving 6.9 million people, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
On June 24, UMass Memorial Health Alliance-Clinton Hospital submitted a notice that it plans to close the maternity inpatient services located at its Leominster Campus.
"In recent years, industry-wide workforce shortages have exacerbated the challenges of fully staffing our maternity inpatient unit consistently at HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital, despite our persistent attempts to recruit and retain clinicians in this region. This, along with the steadily declining number of births in North Central Massachusetts, has a significant impact on our unit's future capacity to provide labor and delivery care to our patients," says a statement from UMass Memorial Health Alliance-Clinton Hospital President Steve Roach. "This was an especially difficult decision for our health system, as our compassionate caregivers have helped thousands of parents and families navigate the birthing journey and welcome new loved ones into their lives for so many decades."
A coalition -- Community United to Save Our Birthing Center -- has started a campaign to stop the closure. The proposed closure date for the maternity unit is September 22.
Of the three acute care hospitals that have closed in the state since 2014, all had been deemed "necessary" by the Department of Public Health, according to the union. Under hospital closure regulations, the department is required to hold a public hearing on the proposed closures, and determine "whether the service provided by the hospital is necessary for preserving access and health status within the hospital’s service area."
If deemed essential, the hospital must submit a plan to DPH, but is allowed to continue with the proposed closure.
"The Department of Public Health is toothless when it comes to halting a hospital closure, even when the agency goes through a hearing process and determines the hospitals are necessary. We believe the DPH should be required to have a receivership process for hospitals threatened by closure," said MNA President Katie Murphy.
The bill goes hand in hand with legislation heard last month at a Joint Committee on Health Care Financing hearing (S 736 / H 1175) which seeks to overhaul the hospital closure process and give the attorney general additional powers.
The nurse's union and community advocates plan to testify at the 1 p.m. Public Health hearing on Thursday.
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