Fearing a spate of hospital closures that could jeopardize health care access for vulnerable residents, the Massachusetts congressional delegation wants a financial briefing from Steward Health Care system — which owns hospitals in nine Massachusetts communities, including Brockton, Taunton, Fall River and Stoughton.
Lawmakers also want an update on the status of Steward’s facilities and the company’s “plans to ensure the communities Steward’s hospitals serve are not abandoned.”
The company, which last month announced plans to close a long-term care and rehabilitation hospital in Stoughton this spring, is facing major financial challenges that could lead to more facility closures, The Boston Globe reported Friday. Steward operates nine facilities in Massachusetts, including Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Morton Hospital in Taunton and St. Anne’s in Fall River.
In a letter to Steward CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre on Tuesday, the delegation warned that shuttering the company’s safety-net hospitals, which serve a high volume of Medicaid and Medicare patients, would primarily burden Massachusetts residents who already face the “greatest challenges accessing health care.”