In a surprise announcement on Friday morning, Gov. Maura Healey said her administration will seize control of St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton and turn over operations of the hospital to Boston Medical Center as part of a state intervention to prevent the closure of multiple Steward Health Care-owned facilities across the state.

Healey's announcement does not yet change the fate of Carney Hospital, which Steward attorneys and state officials have said will close on Aug. 31.

"These actions do not impact Carney or Nashoba Valley hospitals, which will close after not receiving qualified bids," Healey said. "The administration is focused on supporting workers and connecting them to new jobs while also safely transitioning care."

The Healey administration has assented to the closure of Carney and is actively facilitating its shut-down along with the closure of another Steward facility, Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer.

Healey said she was taking the extraordinary action to use eminent domain because the controlling interests in the Steward bankruptcy cases "have repeatedly chosen to put their own interests above the health and wellbeing of the people of Massachusetts."

“Enough is enough. Our administration is going to seize control of Saint Elizabeth’s through eminent domain so that we can facilitate a transition to a new owner and keep this hospital open," said Healey.

But Healey is already coming under pressure from Boston elected officials who want her to also halt the closing off Carney Hospital.

“This announcement confirms what we have been saying all along: that the state and the city have the authority and resources to save our community hospitals," said State Sen. Nick Collins. "I applaud Governor Healey for her leadership in taking this bold action to save St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.

Collins added: "With the recent announcement of the $600m tobacco settlement reached by the Attorney General just days ago, it is clear we have the money to save our community hospitals. State and City health officials should now come together to take the same type of bold action to save Carney Hospital as well."

State Senator Liz Miranda agrees.

"I am grateful for the Governor’s leadership, utilizing the tools we have to preserve healthcare in communities already struggling with capacity crisis and surging rates of chronic illness," said Miranda, who represents parts of Dorchester and Roxbury. "However, I am disappointed that Carney Hospital has not been prioritized thus far, but optimistic now that we know what tools are available."

Miranda added: "We know what this fight is like after recently working to save the Edgar Benjamin Healthcare Center. We know we can win, and beat back corporate greed. Now, we’ve seen the administration broker these deals, demonstrating strong leadership and utilizing eminent domain. Let’s do it again to save Carney Hospital!"

City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune commended Governor Healey and her administration for "taking bold and decisive action to safeguard healthcare access for the communities served by St. Elizabeth’s in Brighton and other Steward-owned hospitals."

"The decision to use eminent domain to facilitate the transition to a new owner and keep these hospitals afloat reflects a deep commitment to the health and well-being of Massachusetts residents, particularly those in underserved communities," said Louijeune. "I urge all of Massachusetts city, state and federal leadership to consider equally strong and similar measures for the Carney Hospital. Carney has long been a lifeline for the Dorchester community, providing essential emergency and psychiatric care to struggling individuals and families. The hospital’s closure would have devastating consequences, particularly for those who rely on its culturally competent care, emergency department, and psychiatric care.

"The urgency of this moment requires us to be both creative and bold. We must use every legal tool at our disposal to ensure that Carney Hospital remains open. We cannot afford to let these critical services disappear when so many lives depend on them.

Louijeune said: "In light of the governor's actions to protect other Steward hospitals, I respectfully call for consideration on a similar approach for Carney, even as a temporary bridge until a long-term solution emerges, whether from investors, community, or a mixture of both."

We must work together to find a sustainable solution that keeps Carney's doors open and ready for its next iteration. The time to act is now. Let us not lose sight of the people and families who rely on Carney every day."

Boston City Councillor John FitzGerald urged Gov. Healey and her team to consider doing the same for Carney.

"The decision to use the powers of eminent domain shows that there is, and has been, an option to save these hospitals," said FitzGerald. "The simple question remains, if it is being done for St [Elizabeth]’s, why can’t it be done for the Carney? While I imagine it’s because the financials show that it’s cheaper to purchase St E’s at fair market value, has stronger patient numbers, and therefore a more favorable chance at profitability, the fact remains that it is a matter of choice to not invest in Dorchester, despite the money being there to do so."

Fiztgerald added: "There is a way to make the Carney a successful hospital again, and it very well may need help from a combination of benefactors to do so, like the State, City, private investors, and philanthropic community, and there is a business model that can get us there. We just need the right combination of investments up front to allow us that runway, and that’s what we should be focused on. One huge piece of that investment could be to take the land and clear the way for a good operator to come in and implement the right strategies, where Steward clearly and intentionally implemented the wrong ones.

"There is no greater cause to get behind than the health and well-being of our own community and in this moment I urge us to take that risk," said FitzGerald.

City Councillor Ed Flynn said: "It was bold and decisive leadership by Gov. Healey to ensure that Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital remains open through state authority and eminent domain. I am once again calling on Mayor Wu to provide similar courageous and compassionate leadership for the Carney Hospital as well. The Carney Hospital can be saved if we have the determination to fight for it."

City Councillor-at-Large Erin Murphy called it "outrageous" that the Carney Hospital "is not getting the same attention other Steward hospitals across the state are receiving."

"The closure of the Carney will cause an unacceptable risk to the public health of residents in all neighborhoods of Boston," said Murphy. "The Carney has been providing essential healthcare to historically underserved populations for over 160 years and have been reducing health disparities for their patients. The closure of the hospital will negatively impact healthcare outcomes for the residents in and around the Dorchester community. The loss of jobs will have a profound economic impact to our community also."

Murphy added: "The state must reconsider and prioritize the Carney to ensure it stays open."

Councillor Julia Mejia said securing one hospital and not the other is unacceptable.

"The decision to take Saint Elizabeth's by eminent domain while leaving Carney Hospital out of this equation is deeply concerning and frankly unacceptable," she said. "Carney Hospital serves a predominantly Black and brown community, and the patients and staff there deserve the same level of commitment and protection as any other hospital in the city of Boston. This selective approach only reinforces the inequities in our healthcare system, and it sends a troubling message that the health and well-being of communities of color are not prioritized."

She added that she urges the "administration to reconsider and extend the same protections to Carney Hospital to ensure it remains open and operational."

District 4 Councillor Brian Worrell said the state needs to take another look at Carney, and keeping it open as well.

"The workers and patients of the Carney deserve the same action that the state is affording St. Elizabeth's," he said. "I hope the state will take another look at keeping the Carney open, which is the equitable and morally correct thing to do. Dorchester and surrounding neighborhoods deserve a health care option in this area, and the easiest path to that is to keep the Carney operating."

The governor's statement added that "deals in principle have been reached to transition operations at four Steward hospitals – Saint Anne’s Hospital, Good Samaritan Medical Center, the Holy Family Hospitals and Morton Hospital – to new operators."

More information was expected to surface this afternoon at press conference in the State House set for 1 p.m..

Healey's key advisor on the Steward matter is Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh, who is the former president and chief executive of BMC, a job she held for 13 years until Healey tapped her last year to join her Cabinet. She is now a central player in the state's actions to ensure that another Boston-area hospital is added to the company's portfolio.

St. Elizabeth's is a mid-size teaching hospital with 234 staffed beds and more than 1,700 full-time equivalent employees, according to state data from fiscal 2022. With about $446 million in operating revenue, St. Elizabeth's had more than 25,500 emergency department visits in fiscal 2022, nearly 12,700 inpatient discharges, and more than 115,600 outpatient visits that fiscal year.

The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution gives governments the power to take private property "by eminent domain" - regardless of the owner's wishes - so long as the government proves the property is needed for a public use and the owner is paid fairly for the property. The taking of private property, though, is likely to require legislative approval.

The state Constitution says the Legislature "shall have the power to provide for the taking, upon payment of just compensation therefor, or for the acquisition by purchase or otherwise, of lands and easements or such other interests therein as may be deemed necessary..." and that the land taken or acquired "shall not be used for other purposes or otherwise disposed of except by laws enacted by a two thirds vote, taken by yeas and nays, of each branch of the general court."

A State House News Service report contributed to this article.