(Boston Orange 編譯) 麻州州長奚莉 (Maura Healey) 9月27日宣佈動用徵用權，接管位於布萊頓的聖伊莉莎白醫療中心 (St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center)，並把醫院的營運工作交給波士頓醫療中心 (BMC)。
奚莉州長表示，此舉是為保護數以千計的病人繼續獲得醫療服務，也保住數以千計的工作機會。麻州政府將致力確保就下來的5家醫院，都能過渡順利，盡量縮小Steward醫療系統關閉Nashoba Valley醫療中心和Carney醫院的影響。
作為接管醫院的法律程序的一部分，奚莉州長宣佈，如果聖伊莉莎白醫療中心關閉，因其服務的病患數量之多，勢將造成巨大的公共衛生緊急狀況，並導致該地區的醫療服務大受干擾。
Steward醫療護理系統在麻州有七家醫院。麻州政府最近已保住了其中的羅倫斯(Lawrence)總醫院將成為在Haverhill 和Methuen的2家聖家 (Holy Family)醫院的營運者，Lifespan將接手Morton，以及聖安 (Saint Anne's)醫院。波士頓醫療中心 (BMC)將接管 Good Samaritan。 這些醫院的所有權轉交，預定10月1日生效。
波士頓醫療中心和Steward早前原本達成協議，要把聖伊莉莎白醫療中心的營運作業轉交出去，但資產管理公司Apollo拒絕接受波士頓醫療中心提出來的地產競標價。麻州州長的接管行動將允許醫院保持開張，服務病人。
聖伊莉莎白醫院傳統上對未獲得足夠服務人群來說，包括MassHealth和Medicare的病人等，是非常重要的醫院服務供應者。一旦聖伊莉莎白醫院關門，至少有60多名病人將立刻無法獲得醫療服務。
Governor Healey Seizes St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center to Keep Hospital Open
BOSTON – Governor Maura Healey today formally seized
St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton through eminent domain to keep the
hospital open. This action will allow the state to take control of the property
and transition operation of the hospital to a new medical services provider,
Boston Medical Center (BMC).
“While Apollo continues to put its greed ahead of the health
and wellbeing of the people of Massachusetts, we are taking action to make sure
St. Elizabeth’s remains open. By transferring operations to Boston Medical
Center, we will protect access to care for tens of thousands of patients and
save thousands of jobs,” said Governor Maura Healey. “Our administration
is committed to ensuring smooth transitions at the five Steward hospitals that
we were able to save, and supporting the communities impacted by Steward’s
closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center and Carney Hospital.”
As part of the legal process to take the hospital, Governor
Healey declared that if St. Elizabeth’s were to close, it would create a public
health emergency due to the large volume of patients currently served by the
hospital and the resulting disruption to the delivery of medical services in
the region.
Governor Healey’s action come after her administration announced that new operators had been secured for five of
Steward’s seven hospitals in Massachusetts. Lawrence General Hospital will
become the new operator for both campuses of Holy Family in Haverhill and
Methuen, Lifespan will assume operations of Morton and Saint Anne’s, and BMC
will take over Good Samaritan. These transfers of ownership are expected to go
into effect on October 1.
BMC and Steward previously reached an agreement to transfer
the operations of St. Elizabeth’s to BMC, but asset management firm Apollo
refused to accept BMC’s bid for the real estate. Governor Healey’s action today
will allow the hospital to remain open and serving patients
St. Elizabeth’s is a crucial provider of hospital services
to traditionally underserved populations, including MassHealth and Medicare
patients. Its closure would put vulnerable patients at risk who would no longer
have access to emergency services, maternity care, behavioral health services
and inpatient care. Further, inpatient capacity in the Boston area remains at
record highs, and the more than 60 patients currently at St. Elizabeth's would
not have immediate access to health care.
Earlier this week, Governor Healey announced working groups focused on stabilizing and revitalizing
health care in communities impacted by Steward Health Care’s closure of Nashoba
Valley Medical Center in Ayer and Carney Hospital in Dorchester.
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