BOSTON — Tim Foley, 1199SEIU Executive Vice President, released the following statement in response to the State of Massachusetts seizing St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston by eminent domain, and the pending sale of five other Steward hospitals to new buyers with state support. 

“This is the exact kind of aggressive action that the healthcare workers of 1199SEIU have been demanding from our state leaders. Steward’s hospitals are essential to Massachusetts’ healthcare system, and this bold step will keep them open to serve our patients despite the outrageous financial brinksmanship of Apollo Global Management, Medical Properties Trust, and Steward Health Care. 

“Thanks to Governor Healey and her administration, six Steward hospitals will be saved. Steward’s investors spent years draining resources from these hospitals to fuel their profits, and they own the blame and responsibility for this crisis. We will not rest until they are held fully accountable for their misconduct and greed. 

“While these actions ensure that six Steward hospitals will continue to deliver life-saving care, Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center are still set to close, leaving thousands of patients and workers to fend for themselves. We need the same level of uncompromising commitment to patients and workers at Carney and Nashoba Valley that we’ve seen from the state when it comes to the other Steward hospitals. 

“Steward and its investors must pay all laid-off workers what they are owed in accumulated PTO and severance pay. We thank Governor Healey for joining us in insisting that Steward not jettison the very workers who stuck around through years of corporate mismanagement. And the state must begin a community-led process to shape the future of care at these sites and preserve critical services that Carney and Nashoba Valley patients depend on, including emergency services, urgent care, full-service pharmacies, behavior health services, and primary/preventative care.” 

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