by John Osborn ·
Saturday, August 31, 2024
The Nashoba Valley Medical Center closed its doors this morning after serving 16 central Massachusetts communities for more than 64 years.
Texas-based Steward Health Care announced on July 26 that it would close the hospital Aug. 31, giving barely 36 days notice.
Chief of Surgery Dr. Paul Harasimowicz (right) hugs a Nashoba Hospital nurse Saturday morning, Aug. 31. (Photo by John Osborn)
The occasion was marked by tears and hugs as more than 100 current and past hospital workers emerged single file from behind the doors of the emergency room at precisely 7 a.m. — the time of closing set by Steward Health Care—to face the crowd of well-wishers that stood waiting for them in front of the building. Many were clad in the blue, white, or purple scrubs of their specialty, others in red T-shirts; each held a placard displaying their years of service.
The workers were greeted with applause by friends and family as they filed out. By the time the last participant had taken their place, the line stretched across the front of the hospital building to the driveway that leads to the now shuttered ambulance entrance. A contingent of uniformed Ayer police officers and firefighters stood facing them, joining in the applause. “We love you,” someone in the crowd shouted. “We love you too,” several in the procession shouted in reply.
Nurses Elizabeth Acevedo and Ellen Logiodice were the two nurses on duty for the final 12-hour shift that began at 7 p.m. They said they had received about 10 patients and sent them elsewhere that night. Finding beds had been relatively easy, they said. Other hospitals were aware of their extenuating circumstances and cut them some slack, said Acevedo. Colleagues had brought meatballs and sausages to share. “We had a slumber party without the slumber,” said one.
As visitors and staff mingled to hug and say their goodbyes, two ambulances arrived to provide the coverage promised by Steward, a basic life support unit from EasCare of Worcester and an advanced life support ambulance from ProEMS of Cambridge. One BLS and one ALS ambulance will be stationed outside the hospital’s former ambulance entrance for the next seven days to help patients who may not be aware of Nashoba hospital’s closure.
By 8 a.m., the hospital was largely deserted. Workers had already removed emergency room and Steward Health Care signs from the entrance and the building itself. The blue and white “H” signs in Ayer and elsewhere pointing the way to Nashoba Valley Medical Center are gone. But red ribbons hang at the entrance to Ayer Town Hall and there are lawn signs everywhere calling for the hospital to remain open. A click on the link to the hospital’s website leads to the following message: “Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, Massachusetts, has permanently closed and is no longer providing patient care.”
Whether the Nashoba Valley Medical Center can or will be revived as an urgent care center or emergency room remains a matter of speculation. In the near term the state has yet to provide any tangible support to the towns struggling to deal with the disruption to emergency services in North Central Massachusetts caused by the closure.
In an afternoon press release on Friday, Aug. 30, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced the state will make money available to eight of the 16 towns currently served by Nashoba hospital. They are invited to apply for grants to acquire and upgrade ambulances and emergency medical vehicles, as well as emergency medical equipment, life support devices, maintenance equipment, and other capital equipment “associated with municipally-owned ambulance and emergency medical vehicles.” The eligible towns include Ayer, Devens, Groton, Harvard, Littleton, Pepperell, Shirley, and Townsend.
The statement also confirmed for the first time that the state is discussing future uses of the abandoned facility with UMass Memorial Health of Worcester, as previously reported by the Worcester Business Journal and in this week’s Harvard Press.
“The Executive Office of Health and Human Services is engaged in ongoing discussions with UMass Memorial Health and other providers in the region with the goal of reimagining future care on the Nashoba Valley Medical Center campus,” the statement said. “UMass Memorial Health is considering alternative possibilities, such as converting the hospital’s emergency room into an urgent care facility.” UMass Memorial has previously said it had no interest in becoming the hospital’s operator.
Meanwhile, doctors offices in the medical building on the Nashoba campus remain open, according to those contacted by the Press. Former Nashoba chief surgeon Paul Harasimowicz told the Press Saturday that some former hospital staff are investigating whether services such as X-rays and ultrasound could be restored in vacant office space at 198 Groton Road, a building that is not involved in Steward Health’s bankruptcy proceedings. “But there is no plan,” he added.
In the statement released by the governor’s office Friday, Aug. 30, Executive Secretary for Health and Human Services Kate Walsh said, “As Steward runs away from its obligations in these communities, we are running toward them to do what is needed to maintain access to essential medical care for patients and support the dedicated employees who have been delivering extraordinary care during this difficult time.”
As this story was being written, the now-empty buildings in Ayer, the 490 employees displaced by their closing, the overtaxed emergency services of 16 Massachusetts towns and their affiliated hospitals, and the thousands of patients who depended on its services were waiting for more tangible signs of progress.
Information about the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center and resources available to the patients, employees, and communities can be found
at Steward Health Care transitions | Mass.gov or by calling the Commonwealth’s Steward Health Care Call Center at 617-468-2189 (local) or 833-305-2070 (toll-free) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (excluding Massachusetts holidays).
Watch for the Harvard Press’ guide for patients in next week’s paper.
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. Watch this site for further updates.