Bankrupt Steward Health Care abandoning Norwood Hospital, closing affiliated facilities

NORWOOD, Mass. — Steward Health Care said Monday in a notice filed in bankruptcy court that it is abandoning Norwood Hospital and closing affiliated facilities in the coming weeks.

Norwood Hospital has been closed since 2020 due to catastrophic flood damage. Medical Properties Trust has been rebuilding the hospital.

Video of the flooding showed water rushing through the hospital and vehicles underwater in the parking lot.

Video shows floodwaters rushing through Norwood Hospital

In September, Norwood General Manager Tony Mazzucco said he was hopeful to find a new operator for the hospital amid Steward’s bankruptcy proceedings.

The proposed closure date for Norwood Hospital, located at 800 Washington Street, is November 5. That’s also when the hospital’s license to operate is slated to expire, according to the abandonment filing.

In a statement, Steward said, “Given ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and Steward’s difficult financial position, reopening the facility is not feasible.”

Tim Foley, Executive Vice President at 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, blasted Steward over the news of the abandonment filing.

“Norwood Hospital’s healthcare workers and our patients have already experienced so much disruption over the past four years. Our communities cannot afford to have yet another obstacle placed in the way of the high-quality healthcare we all deserve,” Foley said in a statement. “Medical Properties Trust, Steward’s partner in the financial mismanagement that created this crisis, and its mortgage lender, Apollo Global Management, cannot be allowed to determine the future of care for Norwood.”

Boston 25 has learned that Apollo Global Management “has never had any interest in, or exposure to, Norwood.”

Steward is also closing Norwood Hospital satellite facilities that provide cancer care and medical imaging services:

• Norwood Performance Therapy at 1343 Providence Highway in Norwood
• Norwood Hospital Cancer Care Center at 70 Walnut Street in Foxboro
• Guild Imaging Center of Norwood Hospital at 825 Washington Street in Norwood

These three facilities have also been marked to close no later than November 5.

“This is a challenging situation, and the impact it will have on our patients, employees, and the community we serve is regrettable,” Steward stated. “To ensure that our Norwood affiliated services patients continue to receive high-quality care, we are working with them to transition their treatments to another hospital system.”

“What Steward Health is doing in Norwood is just a continuation of their disgraceful relationship with the state of Massachusetts,” said Sen. Edward Markey, a fierce critic of the for-profit hospital company. “That’s why we need them out of the state, because they have been absolutely irresponsible. Norwood, in many ways, is the quintessential example of Steward and its abandonment of the health of the Commonwealth.”

Steward filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May. In August, Steward announced agreements to sell its hospitals that survived bankruptcy.

Steward’s Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer and Carney Hospital in Dorchester closed on Aug. 31.

Five of Steward’s Massachusetts hospitals have since been transitioned to new operators, marking a “new chapter for health care” in the Bay State.

The U.S. Senate recently approved a resolution intended to hold Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre in criminal contempt for failing to testify before a Senate panel. He has since stepped down from his role.

Massachusetts has committed about half a billion dollars to see Steward exit the Bay State’s healthcare landscape as it continues through the bankruptcy process.

“Steward is essentially working with their cronies,” Sen. Markey said. “That includes all of their investors, including private equity, They have made a conscious decision to disinvest in the hospitals in Massachusetts and just walk away. Norwood, unfortunately, is one of their victims.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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