Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn says he will propose the city declare a public health emergency in an effort to keep the doors open at Carney Hospital beyond the end of this month.
The hospital is set to close on August 31 under a plan by bankrupt Steward Health Care to shutter two of its area medical centers. Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Hospital in Ayer both failed to attract a suitable buyer. As a result, Steward says it will lay off 753 employees at the Dorchester campus and another 490 in Ayer.
“Over 30,000 emergency visits a year come to Carney Hospital,” Flynn told Boston 25 News. “They will have to be absorbed somewhere else if Carney closes, most likely BU Medical Center.”
Flynn says too many of the city’s emergency rooms are already overworked and understaffed, and they would not be able to support the added strain.
“More patients in the emergency room mean longer waits. It’s going to impact public health across the city,” Flynn said, adding that lower-income communities and communities of color would be disproportionately affected by the closure.
At next Wednesday’s council meeting, Flynn said he will propose the city declare a public health emergency. In doing so, he hopes to keep Carney Hospital open through a potential city, state, and federal partnership. But he admits it will be a challenge.
“It’s a long shot,” Flynn said. “But it’s worth the fight.”
He has support from the union representing nurses in the state.
“[A]ny discussion of layoffs at this time is premature,” Massachusetts’ Nurses Association spokesperson David Schildmeier shared in a statement to Boston 25 News. “Let us be clear, our focus, and the focus of community members, caregivers, and a growing number of policymakers is the exhaust every avenue open to us to stop this closure.”
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2024 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/2IUAJWRGQNEN5P4Q57WDB6CZAM.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/I5UMLF4V4JFJ3APHCURJIXAE5M.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/W4ESP23IMRG4RGTBN6HPVZOJ3Y.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/67AHU7W5KGU6YOCPZW5X5G3EBU.jpg)
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/09-09-2024/t_846f1866728e46f186d05691ac76cecf_name_file_1920x1080_1200_v3_1_.jpg)