Aug 6, 2024 - News

Protesters demand Dorchester, Ayer hospitals stay open

Mike Deehan

protesters — Protesters outside the Carney Hospitals at a previous demonstration in July. Photo: Andrew Burke-Stevenson/The Boston Globe via Getty Images.

The Carney Hospital in Dorchester is set to close in a month and neighbors, patients, workers and pretty much everyone else in the area is irate.

Why it matters: Locals are desperate to stop the closures of the Carney and the Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, the two facilities on the chopping block in the fallout of Steward Health Care's disastrous management of a chain of community hospitals.

Driving the news: Protesters were outside the Carney yesterday calling on the company to keep the hospitals open.

They also want Gov. Maura Healey to step in to keep the doors from shutting.
Steward says 1,250 workers will lose their jobs when the hospitals close down.

What they're saying: "It's devastating," Carney patient Robert La Rosa told WHDH. "All my doctors are here."

The demonstration came the same day as reports a potential buyer had offered to purchase all of Steward's Massachusetts hospitals, including the Ayer and Dorchester locations, but couldn't reach an agreement with the chain.

Steward told a bankruptcy court there were no qualified bids for the Carney and Nashoba Valley sites. The company later backtracked and said no potential buyers had the "financial wherewithal" to complete the buy.

What's next: Without intervention, the hospitals are set to close Aug. 31.

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Protesters demand Dorchester, Ayer hospitals stay open

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