Corrected and updated Aug. 15, 2023
After more than 50 years of service, the Nashoba Associated Boards of Health has voted to close the Nashoba Nursing Service & Hospice due to a shortage of nursing staff and months of financial losses.
The NNS&H has stopped accepting new patients and will continue services, including at-home services, for the next 30 to 90 days until all current patients are safely discharged or transferred to another facility.
NNS&H is a small agency and like so many, was struggling to hire and retain nursing staff to provide at-home services to its patients. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the staffing issues, contributing to the closure of the agency, said Jim Garreffi, director of the Nashoba Associated Boards of Health.
“They’ve been doing it for so many years, it’s just been forever…I’m surprised and saddened,” Debbie Thompson, director for the Council on Aging, said.
NNS&H provided care for 37 elderly individuals in Harvard during fiscal year 2023; Nashoba has been the primary referral from doctors for many years.
As stated in a press release from Nashoba: “The healthcare market is a challenging business and we have experienced headwinds which caused us to review whether the NNS&H can be a viable service provider going forward.”
“We can’t accept patients for service unless we have adequate staffing to provide care for those services,” the press release stated.
Although the “management staff runs a lean operation,” the reduced number of patients has resulted in too much financial loss for the services to continue.
The closure of NNS&H will not affect other public health nursing or environmental services provided by the Nashoba Associated Boards of Health to the 16 towns. Nashoba Associated Boards of Health is staffed with the same nurses who currently serve the community to handle all the public health services they provide to the towns. Services such as contact tracing of communicable diseases, education and outreach on emergency prep and disease prevention, flu clinics, and other similar services will continue.
Longtime provider of at-home services
The Nashoba at-home healthcare services have been a staple in the town of Harvard for many years—providing comfort and care for the older generation and those in need of hospice care. Patients have built a close relationship with the Nashoba caregivers.
“Those who have provided comment on the agency’s closure have expressed sadness at the loss of a small agency,” Garreffi said.
Editor's note: This article has been corrected and updated. The original article incorrectly stated that Nashoba Nursing Service & Hospice provides environmental and public health services. The Nashoba Associated Boards of Health provides those services, and will continue to do so after NNS&H closes
