Draconian emergency declarations were thrown around like confetti during the pandemic.
Vax mandates, mask decrees, bars and restaurants left bankrupt, places of worship locked up, visiting hours cut down … you get the drift.
And then there was the governor’s migrant emergency declaration a year ago tomorrow. We know how well that matter has turned out.
So why is there no emergency declaration for Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Health Center in Ayer?
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge called on Gov. Maura Healey and her Department of Public Health this week to fight for Carney and Nashoba Valley Health and “declare a public health emergency.” He sent a letter to Healey’s office asking her to just tap the brakes.
“We ask first and formally for the bankruptcy court to withdraw the expedited closure and for the Commissioner to withdraw DPH’s support for the expedited closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center and Carney Hospital in the bankruptcy proceeding, and have DPH hold Public hearings, as is required by law, in both hospitals’ services areas, to ensure that all community members, including hospital staff and patients, have the opportunity to be heard on the impact of the closing of the two hospitals,” his letter reads, in part.
The Acton Democrat is just asking for time.
Ironically, this request would temporarily save jobs and allow for options, possibly, to come out of the chaos. There’s an old adage that if you wait a minute, many problems seem to solve themselves.
Eldridge is asking for three steps:
- Provide bridge funding to keep Nashoba Valley Medical Center and Carney Hospital in operation while negotiations for buyers of the two hospitals continue.
- Reach out to any prospective hospital bidder, including Massachusetts healthcare networks, to purchase both hospitals.
- Declare a public health state of emergency to broaden government powers to keep the two hospitals open under the Civil Defense Act of 1950.
Yes, that’s the Civil Defense Act former Gov. Charlie Baker used to declare the COVID state of emergency.
We remember it well. The state Supreme Judicial Court backed Baker, stating the act “provided authority for the Governor’s declaration of a state of emergency on March 10, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and for the issuance of subsequent emergency orders.”
What followed will be dissected for decades to come.
The SJC added: “This court concluded that the emergency orders that the Governor issued under the Civil Defense Act, St. 1950, c. 639, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic did not violate art. 30 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.”
So we all went home to wash our groceries.
Granted, a worldwide pandemic was scary — beginning a timeline of sorrow that we’re still recovering from — but now we realize it went too far. Time does allow for answers.
The Steward Health Care crisis is borne out of greed. Time will never change that, but giving everyone an opportunity to weigh the options for Carney and Nashoba Valley can’t hurt. Just look at the ER visits! That alone shows the need.
The governor should consider all options. You never know; someone might just be the guardian angel Dorchester and Ayer need right now.
