Steward Health Care has given formal notice that it will abandon its Norwood Hospital and close four satellite operations, a move that will eliminate dozens of jobs and trigger a state public health hearing.
Norwood Hospital has remained closed since a June 2020 flash flood. Its bankrupt owner, Steward, effectively walked away from the hospital about 10 months ago, turning over a partly completed reconstruction project to real estate owner Medical Property Trust.
In a Monday filing in US Bankruptcy Court in Houston, Steward — which recently sold six Massachusetts hospitals while closing two others — confirmed it will no longer operate the 215-bed community hospital when its license expires on Nov. 5. Any new operator would have to seek a new license from the state Department of Public Health.
Steward also said in the filing that it will close four satellite outpatient clinics affiliated with Norwood Hospital in the coming weeks: Norwood Performance Therapy and Guild Imaging Center, both in Norwood, Norwood Hospital Cancer Care Center at Foxborough and another office at the same Foxborough address. Patients receive oncology care, radiology services and physical therapy at the four health care centers.
Many doctors and nurses who worked at Norwood Hospital before the flood have taken jobs at other hospitals across Eastern Massachusetts, including Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, both of which Steward sold to Boston Medical Center. The closing of the outpatient offices will result in the loss of dozens of jobs, according to Norwood town officials.
“It’s another degradation of health care in the region,” said Tony Mazzucco, the town’s general manager. “After all that’s happened, Steward’s putting more people out of work. It’s the final nail in the coffin of Steward’s unceremonious exit from Massachusetts. I don’t think anybody expected Steward to die an honorable death.”
State officials said the official closure notice for the hospital, which wasn’t included in the assets Steward put up for sale in its bankruptcy proceedings, will trigger a public closure process. That will almost certainly include a DPH hearing, which hasn’t yet been scheduled.
Such a hearing is likely to highlight the impact of the shuttered hospital on Norwood and about a dozen other communities southwest of Boston, putting fresh pressure on Healey administration officials to work with MPT and town officials to find a new hospital operator.
“With this notice of closure, we can now focus on moving forward and meeting the health care needs of the Norwood community. . . . ” Kate Walsh, the state secretary of health and human services said in a statement. Walsh said Steward must present the state with a closure plan as soon as possible that outlines how the company “will ensure continued access to care in the community and support the work force.”
In a statement, Tim Foley, executive vice president of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, called on the state to act quickly to bolster health care in the region.
“Norwood Hospital’s health care workers and our patients have already experienced so much disruption over the past four years,” Foley said. “Our communities cannot afford to have yet another obstacle placed in the way of the high-quality healthcare we all deserve.”
Steward, in its bankruptcy court filing, said most patients at its outpatient clinics will complete their treatment prior to their closure and, if necessary, will be referred to new providers for follow-up care.
“Any patients who need longer treatment will be notified of the anticipated closure and will be transferred, along with their medical record information, to an outpatient clinic in the area or an outpatient clinic of their choice,” the company said in the filing.
Steward’s court filing sketches out the rough details of how the four facilities will close. Fifteen days before closing, Steward says it will post closing notices at all facility entrances. Ambulatory care would stop one day before the official closing.
The four facilities may have different closure dates. The company said it plans to “adjust the date for cessation of clinical operations at each satellite as necessary to ensure safe patient care.”
Property owner MPT, an Alabama-based real estate investment trust which purchased all of Steward’s hospital land and buildings, has already begun marketing the parcel near the center of Norwood.
“We are eager to complete the rebuild of Norwood Hospital and restore the critical general acute care services it provided to the community for many years prior to the tragic storm,” an MPT spokesman said Tuesday.
Material from State House News Service was included in this report.
Robert Weisman can be reached at robert.weisman@globe.com.