Mass. launches emergency operations plan for embattled Steward hospitals

Massachusetts has activated an emergency operations plan in response to the ongoing financial turmoil of Steward Health Care’s statewide hospitals.

On Friday, the state Department of Public Health announced it had launched an emergency plan to help patients and medical staff caught in the turbulence of Steward’s ongoing financial struggles. 

“This week, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health activated its Emergency Operation Plan as part of our ongoing commitment to ensure patient safety, protect access to care and preserve jobs,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh said in a statement. “This next step is part of our continued response to Steward Health Care’s financial challenges.”

Part of the plan includes an incident command center that focuses on helping eastern Massachusetts patients access health care.

In an interview with The Boston Globe, Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said the center will organize efforts among state, hospital, and local leaders to assist patients and medical workers. 

“People need to know they can get care and workers must have the confidence to know they can show up every day,” said Goldstein.

Steward, which owns and operates nine Massachusetts medical centers, has admitted to owing about $50 million in unpaid rent and contracts. Its facilities have grappled with severe staff shortages that have threatened patient access to timely health care.

In March, Steward announced plans to sell its nationwide physician network to OptumCare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group. Last month, Steward also said it was forced to temporarily close a cancer unit at Brockton’s Good Samaritan hospital due to a staffing shortage.

A coalition of health care workers, residents, and community leaders recently organized a series of forums and rallies and launched an online petition urging state leaders to assist patients affected by the problems at Steward facilities.

“The loss of any of these facilities will deliver a devastating blow to the entire health care infrastructure in the commonwealth, particularly to some of the most vulnerable and marginalized patients and families,” the coalition wrote in the petition. “Patients will be subjected to dangerous delays in care, be forced to travel longer distances for care, and for many, to go without care altogether.”

Morgan Rousseau

Morgan Rousseau is a freelance writer for Boston.com, where she reports on a variety of local and regional news.

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