‘Really scary’: Pending hospital closure could prove to be devastating for Mass. community

AYER, Mass. — Steward Health Care is set to close two hospitals in the state.

Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer are expected to close at the end of August. But the community of Ayer is speaking out against those closures.

Officials in Ayer plan to meet Tuesday morning for a press conference to discuss the future of Nashoba Valley Medical Center. The hospital has been operating for 60 years.

The hospital serves sixteen communities in North Central Massachusetts and is set to close after they had no qualified bids to buy the hospital during the sale process.

Steward Health Care has requested an expedited closure in bankruptcy court. That’s also despite a Massachusetts law requiring 120-day notice.

One of the workers said morale has plummeted since the news of the hospital closure was announced. She is very concerned about what the quality of care will look like once Nashoba Valley is closed.

“There are so many communities that use this hospital, and there’s not another hospital,” Therapeutic Coordinator Lori Grant said. “You have chest pain at two o’clock in the morning, you’re not ten minutes away anymore. So, it’s really scary.”

Ayer’s Fire Chief Timothy Johnston said this closure will increase emergency response times throughout the area. What now takes 10 minutes to get a patient to a hospital could soon be as much as 45 minutes.

He wants Steward to remember that this closure will hurt real people.

“This puts the squeeze not only on Ayer, but every town around that brought patients into Nashoba Valley.”

Johnston added, “We just don’t want to be forgotten. We are outside 495, but this area is just as important as any other area in the state, we’d like to see them pursue any avenues as much as possible to try to keep that facility open.”

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

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