When a hospital suddenly shuts down

Also: What to make of the new COVID variants, FLiRT [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  June 4, 2024 Hi CommonHealth reader, In the summer of 2020, a rainstorm pummeled the Boston suburb of Norwood. Water gushed into the local hospital. The damage was so severe that patients had to be evacuated, and Norwood Hospital closed. Four years later, the town is still without a hospital. Steward Health Care, the cash-strapped operator of Norwood Hospital, promised to rebuild the facility. But construction slowed and then halted over the past several months as Steward’s financial problems mounted. Architects and construction crews stopped getting paid, according to public officials. Steward [filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection]( last month. The new Norwood Hospital was supposed to be open by now, according to court records. But it’s just the shell of an unfinished building. “It’s a promise that has been broken,” Bob Donnelly, chairman of Norwood’s Board of Selectmen, told me. Norwood Hospital closed under unusual circumstances, but the experience holds lessons for other communities served by Steward hospitals. Steward is seeking to sell its assets, including its network of hospitals in Massachusetts. A federal judge this week ordered the company to [sell its hospitals in a pair of auctions]( with the first scheduled for June 27. But public officials, health care workers and community advocates worry certain facilities could ultimately close. This would have ripple effects across the state’s health care system, they warn. I visited Norwood this spring [to understand the impacts of the sudden closure of its local hospital](. And I found there have been many. When first responders are called to an emergency, they have to drive longer distances and spend more time taking care of patients in the back of ambulances before arriving at an emergency department. The longer drives are requiring more frequent repairs for Norwood’s fleet of ambulances. The town is also spending millions more on fuel, overtime and other costs. Norwood’s two primary ambulances often are out on calls at the same time. That means the town must rely more than it used to on backup from neighboring communities, known as mutual aid. Norwood Fire Chief Timothy Bailey told me the absence of the local hospital is straining fire departments across the region. “I'd like to see that hospital rebuilt yesterday,” he said. “The delay is not helping us in any way. We'd just like to see it get done. The community needs it. We need it.” Public officials in Norwood said they’re still hoping another hospital provider takes over the site and revives construction, so their community can have quick access to emergency medical care again. But the hospital's future remains uncertain; it was not listed in court documents as one of the hospitals up for auction. 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