Norwood Hospital Future Now More Clouded

All of Steward Health Care's Massachusetts hospitals received bids as the for-profit company looks to sell off its facilities during ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, Gov. Maura Healey said Tuesday.

"We have qualified bids for all the hospitals," Healey told reporters Tuesday afternoon when asked whether any of Steward's hospitals had not received bids, which were due on Monday July 15. In fact, however, Norwood Hospital, long a mainstay facility for many Franklin families and a secondary facility for Franklin ambulances, was NOT included in the bidding process.

The governor's disclosure, made as Healey was exiting a press scrum after a meeting with legislators, comes after Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein last Wednesday said state officials had no information on how the bidding process worked out.

"We've received qualified bids. We are evaluating those now, and it's currently with the parties right now in New York," Healey said. "So we're gonna wait to see what happens at the end of today. My focus remains on protecting jobs, protecting patients and protecting the stability of the health market here in Massachusetts. So something that's evolving -- we'll continue to keep you updated and apprised on developments."

 A Steward spokesperson declined to comment on the bids Tuesday.

A sales hearing is scheduled for the hospitals in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on July 31.

"We at DPH will be ready to move forward with regulatory processes to transition Steward hospitals to new operators," Goldstein said at last week's Public Health Council meeting. "We remain resolute about preserving access to safe, quality health care for all residents of the commonwealth. We'll soon know what it will take to fully execute on that promise, but for now, we wait."

Steward was taking bids on its seven hospitals operating in Massachusetts: Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Morton Hospital in Taunton, St. Anne's Hospital in Fall River, St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Brighton, Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Holy Family Hospital with campuses in Methuen and Haverhill, and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer. 

Norwood Hospital, was not included in the sale process, supposedly because it is "temporarily" closed. But with the facility so far from reopening, its future seems far less assured.