Mass. Hospitals "Really Struggling," House Chair Says

While all eyes are on the financial distress reported at Steward Health Care, a top House Democrat said Wednesday that the system is not alone and that other hospitals across Massachusetts are "really struggling."

During a policy breakfast at a Boston hotel, Health Care Financing Committee Co-chair Rep. John Lawn told biopharmaceutical and health care industry leaders that ensuring constituents have access to care is the "number-one priority" for the Legislature, broadening the focus beyond the storm clouds hanging over Steward and its nine Bay State hospitals.

"We know we have a hospital system that, as many know, Steward, [is] in financial distress. But regardless of them, our major hospital systems and our community hospitals are really struggling. We have some real challenges," Lawn, a Watertown Democrat, said at a Massachusetts Biotechnology Council event. "It's going to take a lot of stakeholders to come to the table and try to work on it. But we're committed to it. We've got a lot of smart people in the state -- smartest state in the country."

Officials at Steward have been raising a similar warning since at least last year, arguing that community hospitals like the ones they operate "are forced to increasingly do more with less" in a top-heavy system where more resources are concentrated in large academic medical centers and government reimbursements rates don't cover care costs associated with patients on Medicaid and Medicare.

Patients and policymakers have been on edge for more than a week since Steward's issues burst into the spotlight. The system is apparently $50 million behind on rent to its hospital landlords, and is facing multiple lawsuits about allegations of unpaid bills.

Sen. Jamie Eldridge of Marlborough, whose district includes the Steward-operated Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, said he has received "radio silence from Steward Health Care" about next steps.

"It's very frustrating. I understand there's discussions at the executive level with Steward, but unfortunately, they're not informing at least the Nashoba Valley legislative delegation," Eldridge said Wednesday.

In December, before the scope of the problem became publicly clear, Steward announced plans to close Stoughton's New England Sinai Hospital in the spring, saying it had lost $22 million on its operations. The Department of Public Health will hold a hearing Wednesday evening in Stoughton about the closure.