Nov. 5: The Election, Guy Fawkes Day, and the End of Norwood Hospital

Above, a 1926 image of the first purpose built Norwood Hospital, constructed at a cost of $250,000

Norwood hospital began in a convert house in 1910 and even with additions, it was soon often at capacity. That situation prompted a local subscription drive to build a new hospital, which succeeded with funds to spare, creating a modern brick building that not only server Norwood but also Canton, Sharon, Westwood, Medfield, and Walpole.

Over the years, the hospital grew, as did its service area. Then came the Steward Health buyout followed, in the midst of Covid, by an unprecedented local flood in June 2020, that so badly damaged the building and its systems, demolition was deemed the best option.

It’s been downhill from there, mostly. Rebuilding actually got underway but then funding dried up and work completely stopped early in 2024….and then the Steward bankruptcy, by which time Norwood Hospital had become nearly forgotten by policy makers, its fate largely unaddressed in various “deals” that save some of the Steward facilities from closure.

Now, according to published reports, Norwood Hospital's license to operate expires Nov. 5, and the state seems uninterested in granting an extension.

A hearing Monday reportedly packed in dozens of residents, begging the state to settle the impasse and help to craft a workable plan. Officials were at best sympathetic, but offered no solutions.

Indeed,  the Boston Globe speculates that the Healey Administration is simply unwilling to work with the site’s owner, Medical Properties Trust (MPT), widely blamed for contributing to the Steward collapse. That company claims it is ready and willing to put funds into finishing the rebuild, but probably not without a license to operate because getting a new license could be extremely time consuming and costly, and might not even happen.

What’s more, as of November 5, the hospitals’ four satellite facilities, for example one that provides oncology services in Foxboro, will also be forced to close, further punishing patients in the region.

The Globe editorial urged all the players to work more diligently toward a solution to a problem that has festered for far too long. Two weeks isn't much time.