Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is demanding Dallas-based Steward Health Care honor severance payments for the employees of two state hospitals the health system plans to close by Aug. 31, according to an Aug. 15 news release shared with Becker's.
The closures of Boston-based Carney Hospital and Ayer, Mass.-based Nashoba Valley Medical Center will result in 1,243 employees being laid off.
"The nurses, health workers and staff at Carney and Nashoba have been the heart and soul of these hospitals and communities, working day after day to provide care and comfort to patients in need," Ms. Healey said in the release. "Steward must keep its commitments and make good on all severance payments to these workers as part of any Massachusetts sales. We are insisting on worker severance in our negotiations and will insist on severance funding to the bankruptcy court if that’s what it takes."
On Aug. 6, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher Lopez approved an emergency motion filed by Ms. Healey's administration to give Steward $30 million. The funding will be provided in two installments, and is exclusively to fund operations of its state hospitals.
Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services Kate Walsh also voiced the need for Steward to present a "responsible closure plan" for the two hospitals and follow the state's 120-day closure process.
"It would be obscene for Steward to break the law and violate their contracts with these workers, to renege on their commitment to pay these dedicated workers what they are owed, particularly after the sacrifices they have made throughout this crisis to hold the line to care for their communities," a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Nurses Association said in an Aug. 15 statement shared with Becker's. "While it is right for the governor to demand this of Steward, we still hold her accountable for using her power, along with other state leaders, to save these hospitals to protect these communities and so workers can continue to provide care to the communities."
Steward did not have a comment for Becker's.