Nashoba Valley Medical Center closure leaves towns struggling with EMS costs
AYER - First responders in Northern Worcester County say they're on the verge of collapse after the closure of the Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, Massachusetts.
Towns struggle to cover EMS costs
Fire chiefs in the area have asked Governor Maura Healey to include $9.6 million in the state's upcoming supplemental budget to help pay for emergency medical response. The fire chiefs said the closure has left communities shorthanded and struggling to cover emergency calls.
The closure of the hospital was announced in July, months after its owners, Steward Health Care, filed for bankruptcy in May. At that time, the company said it would sell all of its hospitals, including seven it had in Massachusetts.
Nashoba Valley Medical Center closed on Aug. 31, despite pleas from the community for Healey to step in and save the hospital. Community leaders have said the closure of the hospital has created a health desert in the area and increased EMS rides from 2.4 miles to 11-16 miles.
Healey says help is coming
Healey said her administration is working on a solution.
"This is an issue, you know, rural communities. It's a struggle right now, and we know that they've had to absorb more costs with travel time since the closing of Nashoba. It's why I put together a working group on Nashoba. I hope to be out very soon with some recommendations about healthcare in that region going forward that will hopefully alleviate what the fire chiefs are experiencing, and we're looking at what we can do to help deal with some of those additional costs they've had to incur," Healey said
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services said the working group meets monthly and is expected to issue recommendations early this year.
The state saved five of Steward's hospitals, including St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton, Saint Anne's Hospital in Fall River, Morton Hospital in Taunton, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, and Holy Family hospitals in Haverhill and Methuen. It closed Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center. Steward's eighth hospital in Massachusetts, Norwood Hospital, has been closed since it was flooded in 2020.
