Communities pay as Steward closes hospitals

Months have passed and in the face of this news it seems like we still need to change the way we present ourselves in communities and broaden the scope of our policy decisions.

Hospitals are important intermediary structures for communities of color. They make significant economic contributions as employers and purchasers of local services. They are often key anchor institutions responsible for improving the social determinants of community health and well-being. For Black women, who are nearly three times are more likely to die during pregnancy or within a year of giving birth than white women, Carney is ensuring access to key prenatal services. Despite this, the focus seems to remain on punishing Ralph de la Torre, Steward’s embattled CEO, rather than talking about the many alternatives that could keep the hospital open and under control, which focuses on quality, health care innovation and care integration.

Black physicians and the Black and Brown communities they may be more likely to serve have long witnessed organized rallies and strategic plans to promote racial equity. While these are important parts of getting the message across, promoting the importance of the issue, and building support, we must move on to solving problems. Affected residents deserve action and concrete steps that fulfill the promise that our Commonwealth will be a model for equitable and high-quality health care for all of its residents.

Carney Hospital has the opportunity to become a model of excellence in integrated care by offering training programs focused on developing physicians of color who will remain in the community after graduation.

Time is running out to answer the question: Is a stopgap solution our way to help the thousands of Medicare and Medicaid patients who will benefit from a rebuilt Carney Hospital, or will we dare to make decisions that will enrich the communities that need our help the most?

Dr. Sharma E. Joseph

Roxbury

The author is director of health policy and advocacy for the New England Medical Association. She is also an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Tufts University School of Medicine and an anesthesiologist and critical care physician at Tufts Medical Center.

Dr. Ellana Stinson

Roxbury

The author is president of the New England Medical Association. She is also a board certified emergency physician at Boston Medical Center.

Why not take over state hospitals slated for closure?

The risk of closing two important hospitals, Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, illustrates how for-profit hospital care can lead to the failure of important and essential institutions, i.e., closure. We need legislation to prevent malignant corporate takeovers in the health care space. The fate of the two hospitals is symptomatic of the evils of for-profit care. I would support state government takeovers of these two institutions so that they can continue to provide important services to their communities. The financing of this proposal is a question for health care economists to answer.

Dr. Sidney P. Kadish

Worcester

The author is a retired radio-oncologist.

Closures create ‘healthcare desert’

A judge has approved an accelerated timeline for the closure of Carney Hospital, which has served the health care needs of the Dorchester community since the Civil War.

In response, the state created an interactive dashboard listing alternative hospitals within a 30-minute drive.

The state’s tone deafness is obvious. The area has one of the lowest rates of car ownership in the country, second only to the infamous non-driving population of the New York City area. It’s hard to go 30 minutes without a car.

What’s more, the state’s dashboard identifying providers within a 30-minute drive seems to run counter to the state and city’s “transit-friendly development” priority, which aims to encourage even fewer area residents to own a car to make the 30-minute drive.

Governor Maura Healey and her advisers need to do better than allowing a vulnerable community to become a health care desert.

Palma McLaughlin

Dorchester

And while we’re at it, let’s also freeze the for-profit groups that take over doctors

How does a federal bankruptcy judge expedite the closure of two hospitals without any analysis of the public health implications? While they may be focused on their duties in bankruptcy, it is important to consider the interests of those served by both hospitals.

And while we’re on the subject, the Globe’s Stat article on UnitedHealth Group (“The assembly line of drugs that allows UnitedHealth to maximize profits,” page A1, July 28) and its acquisitions of physicians, which are further corporatizing health care in Massachusetts, should prompt Gov. Maura Healey and the Legislature to take action to freeze any further takeovers of health care providers by for-profit entities.

James Cullen

Yarmouth Harbour

“How can this be legal?”

It is outrageous that a bankruptcy judge has the authority to close our region’s only hospital with only 30 days notice (not the 120 days required by state law), apparently unaware of the impact his actions will have on residents of Ayer, Groton, Dunstable, Shirley, Harvard, Pepperell and the surrounding areas. The north-central part of the state known for its world-renowned hospitals will become a healthcare desert, hundreds of people will lose their jobs, and lives will be lost while driving 35 minutes or more through several neighboring towns to reach an emergency room. How can this be legal?

Becky Pine

Groton