UMass Memorial breaks ground of satellite Nashoba Valley ER, expects to open in 2026

Image I Courtesy of UMass Memorial Health A rendering of UMass Memorial Health's satellite emergency department to open in Groton in late 2026.

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By Mica Kanner-Mascolo

Eight months after UMass Memorial Health unveiled plans to open a satellite emergency department to help fill the emergency care gap left by the 2024 closure of Ayer’s Nashoba Valley Medical Center, the Worcester-based healthcare system has begun construction on the Groton facility.

UMass Memorial’s site, located at 490 Main St., will offer the same adult and pediatric emergency services provided at conventional traditional emergency departments in addition to a helipad for emergency helicopter transportation and specific imaging services, according to a Tuesday press release.

The healthcare system expects to open the facility in late 2026.

“This site is the culmination of the entire region’s vision. It started to become a reality when I first met with the fire and emergency response chiefs earlier this year, asking them, “Where would you put an emergency medical facility?” Dr. Eric Dickson, UMMH president and CEO, said in the release. “Since then, we’ve collaborated closely about how we could invest in the community to address residents’ immediate concerns.”

UMass Memorial originally began ruminating on plans to support the Nashoba Valley region shortly after the region’s medical center was shut down on Aug. 31 of last year.

Nashoba Valley Medical Center’s closure came after its parent company, Dallas-based Steward Health Care, filed for bankruptcy in May of 2024 and subsequently announced in July it would shutter Nashoba Valley in 60 days.

The now-closed 77-bed medical center, staffed by 164 physicians and 430 nurses, served as the sole hospital in the Nashoba Valley region, meaning its closure left the area's 115,000 residents to travel longer distances in case of a medical emergency.

In October, the Gov. Maura Healey Administration announced a 32-person working group designed to identify and address healthcare needs in the region following the 60-year-old facility’s closure.

Group members included hospital, labor, government, and community leaders, including U.S. Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA), Patricia Pistone, senior director of external affairs, UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital, and Robert Sideleau, fire chief of the City of Leominster.

“When Steward abandoned the Nashoba Valley, they left families scared and without the care they depended on, but this community didn’t wait for someone else to fix it. We organized, we got to work, and we found partners who shared our commitment to delivering high quality care close to home,” Trahan said in the release. “Today’s groundbreaking isn’t just about building a new emergency facility – it’s about the resilience of a community that refused to be broken by the greed of Steward executives.”

In March, six months after Nashoba Valley’s closure, the working group released a report documenting how the region was struggling with transportation and emergency response concerns.

The report noted patient volumes and wait times were rising at neighboring hospitals as they attempted to care for former Nashoba Valley patients, and that medical first responders were facing an average median transport time of 17 minutes, up from the 12-minute median before the hospital shut down.

"Massachusetts is the nation’s healthcare leader, and we need to make sure that's true for every community. This groundbreaking was a celebration of the partnership between the Nashoba Valley community and the state, the resilience of this region, and our collective commitment to ensuring that everyone gets the health care they need and deserve," Healey said in the release.

Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.