October 22, 2024
The working group tasked with responding to the loss of Carney Hospital in Dorchester is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Halloween, coming just over a month after Gov. Maura Healey's office announced the body, according to a Boston city councilor who repeatedly urged the administration to keep the facility open.
City Councillor John FitzGerald, a member of the group, said he's looking forward to discussing future health care services that meet the needs of residents grappling with consequences of the abrupt closure. Mayor Michelle Wu and Council President Ruthzee Louijeune have said the Carney site — one of two hospitals that closed amid the Steward bankruptcy crisis — should serve as a health care facility again.
The Nashoba Valley Medical Center working group, which the Healey administration also launched in late September, has already met, the governor's office said on Oct. 8.
FitzGerald, whose district includes Dorchester, said he's not aware of any specific instances of people experiencing worse health care outcomes because they had to travel longer distances to be treated. But FitzGerald said he's heard about disruptions to routine care, particularly among elderly residents. He's also personally felt the loss of Carney, which closed at the end of August.
"I had to take a family member to an emergency room the other day and had to plug in Milton Hospital into the GPS. And it took us right by the Carney, so I was certainly cursing the building as I was driving by," FitzGerald told the News Service Monday.
At the Oct. 31 working group meeting, FitzGerald said he's "very much looking forward to getting some suggestions on the table and figuring out how we can get this place back open and provide health care services."
City officials say the group will meet over the next three months, before providing recommendations to Healey and Wu about how to deal with the Carney closure and improve access to care.
The group, composed largely of health care leaders, is chaired by Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, Boston's public health commissioner, and Michael Curry, CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. Other members include U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Stephen Lynch, Sen. Nick Collins, Rep. Brandy Fluker Oakley, and state Department of Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein.