AYER — An era of health services in Central Massachusetts came to an end early Saturday morning, as Nashoba Valley Medical Center closed to patients.
The hospital closed its doors to patients at 7 a.m. Saturday, the end of a dramatic past month that saw a whirlwind of events unfold since the hospital's parent company, Steward Health Care, announced in late July that two of its hospitals, Nashoba Valley Medical Center and Carney Hospital in Dorchester, would be closing at the end of the month.
"Unfortunately this is the result of incredible corporate greed and corruption," Dr. Paul Harasimowicz, Nashoba Valley's chief of surgery, said. "To think that the state could help, hasn't help, it is just morally unconscionable."
At 7 a.m., staff at Nashoba Valley, both on-duty and off-duty, exited the facility in solidarity, as many of them prepared to say goodbye to jobs they have worked for decades. As the doors shut, longtime employees remained resolute in trying to save the hospital.
"We don't want the hospital to close. (Governor) Maura Healey is not representing us well, we think the momentum to save the hospital is going to keep going, even after the doors have closed," Cindy Downing, a nurse who worked at Nashoba for 40 years until Saturday, said.
Steward, a Texas-based, for-profit medical company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. The company owns eight hospitals in the state and arranged to sell four of them, Morton Hospital in Taunton, Saint Anne's Hospital in Fall River, and Holy Family Hospital facilities in Methuen and Haverhill, to other hospital buyers. Two additional hospitals owned by Steward, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, will be taken over by Boston Medical Center, a nonprofit operator.
More:Steward finalizes four hospital deals, expects $42M in state aid
The 47-bed hospital officially closes at the end of Saturday, but the doors were closed to new patients early in the morning, as the hospital needed time to move patients into different facilities. Patients who were at Nashoba Valley will be transferred mainly to UMass Memorial — Clinton Hospital in Leominster and Emerson Hospital in Concord.
There is a call line for Nashoba patients to get information about accessing care after the hospital ends on-site services. The number provided by Steward is (617) 789-2228, and it will take calls 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. The service went online Monday and will run for a minimum of 30 days.
'Coming to work was like attending a wake'
Over the final 30 days of Nashoba's operating period, a sense of dread and doom plagued a hospital staff that tried to maintain a positive atmosphere for patients who were just as concerned about the future of the hospital.
"Coming to work every day was like attending a wake, and it was getting worse every day," Harasimowicz said.
Harasimowicz has been a surgeon at Nashoba for 33 years and said that the hospital was the center for medical care for all of the communities that it served.
"This is a family place, we work to take care of the 17 communities that we live with. We seen them on the ballfields, at the grocery store, at church. I've always thought that in the communities we serve, we are the medical center of 17 communities that has just been ripped out from under them," Harasimowicz said.
'They don't care if people die'
Nashoba Valley served approximately 17 communities in Northern Worcester County and Northwestern Middlesex County. For local residents, the loss of the hospital is a tough pill to swallow.
"I've been coming here for 50 years, for the past 11 years I've been coming frequently for a health issue, and the service is top-notch," Susan Sanderson of Lunenburg said. "It's devastating that it is closing. This hospital has been our lifeline, and to not do something about this is criminal."
Local residents had harsh criticisms for the state government and Healey. Healey had authorized $700 million to be spent in funding to help prop up the Steward hospitals that are being transferred over to nonprofit owners, but since Nashoba did not have what was reported as "qualified buyers" interested in the location, it has closed to patients.
"We live in the state that has best medical care in the world, but only if you can get there," Charlene Miller of Ayer said. "Our state government has let us down. It says that we don't care if people live here, we don't care if they die here, if they live outside the 128 belt."
More:Rally at State House pushes for Healey to step in to keep Nashoba Hospital in Ayer open
That sentiment was shared by employees at Nashoba, who pointed out that the two hospitals from Steward that are shutting down are located in rural Massachusetts and in Dorchester.
"We don't think they care about the people who live in this area. We know that Steward is the problem, but Maura Healey needs to step up because there are sixteen communities that are now going to be underserved," Downing said. "Two hospitals didn't get saved — the rural hospital and the inner-city hospital."
Family members of staff and residents who have been served by the hospital, as well as Ayer first responders, saluted the hospital staff as they exited the building on Saturday morning. Kevin Goguen of Fitchburg swung by with his pickup truck, which was decorated with signatures and messages from departing staff.
"I've got doctors, fire departments, patients, anybody that wanted to sign it signed it," Goguen said.
Future of hospital still to be decided
While the hospital is officially closed, state officials and local representatives are still optimistic that a deal can be reached to provide medical care at the Nashoba Valley site.
State Rep. Margaret Scarsdale, D-Pepperell, said in a press release released on Saturday that multiple parties are in negotiations with the state about restarting medical services at the site, and that Steward made it extremely difficult to find a buyer that would have avoided the closure of the hospital.
"It has always been the goal of my office to avoid a shutdown all together. But we are here today because Steward was a pariah to its last breath, negotiating in bad faith, hell-bent on sucking any remaining cents out of its Massachusetts hospitals. Our ability to establish a new operator for the Nashoba Valley Medical Center will be made far easier by their absence," Scarsdale said.
A State House News Service report from Friday states that the governor's office also announced that the Executive Office of Health and Human Services is in discussion with UMass Memorial Health and other providers around Nashoba Valley "with the goal of reimagining future care on the Nashoba Valley Medical Center campus."
"UMass Memorial Health is considering alternative possibilities, such as converting the hospital's emergency room into an urgent care facility," Healey's office said. "While these discussions are in the early stages, there will be continued collaboration with UMass to attempt to provide an alternative health care option for residents."
