Heywood Healthcare has paused construction on a surgical facility at Heywood Hospital in Gardner, Mass., shortly after it had announced that Win Brown would be leaving his post as president and CEO of the system, The Gardner News reported June 26.
Hospital leaders were in discussions to adjust the project's legal and financial structure to better position itself for the future and for negotiation with potential strategic partners, according to the health system.
"Construction of the new state-of-the-art surgical platform is critically important to our community and to our health system," Tom Sullivan, co-CEO of Heywood Healthcare, said. "However, we must proceed responsibly and cautiously in light of the challenging healthcare environment in order to protect the investments made by all partners and members of our community."
Mr. Sullivan, former vice president of financial services of Heywood Healthcare, is serving as co-CEO with Rozanna Penney, CRNA, who previously served as vice president of patient care services, chief nursing officer and COO for the health system and executive director of Heywood Medical Group. Mr. Brown had held the corner office at Heywood Healthcare since 2011.
Construction of the 44,000-square-foot facility began in the summer of 2022. The facility, which will include six operating rooms, two minor procedure rooms and a post-anesthesia care unit, was scheduled to open in April 2024.
"The stability of our healthcare system and financial viability of this project is in the best interest of our community," Mr. Sullivan said.