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A bankruptcy judge approved the sale of six Steward Health Care hospitals Wednesday to three different buyers for $343 million, multiple outlets reported.
Judge Christopher Lopez approved the sale of St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River and Morton Hospital in Taunton to Lifespan Health System for $175 million, The Boston Globe reported.
“We’ve got multiple declarations showing that the debtors just don’t have the funding, the cash, to continue to fund operations here,” Lopez said at a hearing Wednesday, the Boston Herald reported. “There are real people in these hospitals right now.”
Plans are in the works for Boston Medical Center to purchase St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, the state announced last week. Lawrence General Hospital will acquire Holy Family Hospital’s Methuen and Haverhill locations.
The Herald said BMC might pay as much as $140 million, while Lawrence will pay $28 million.
Healey announced last week that the administration is beginning the process to take St. Elizabeth’s through eminent domain to help transition it to BMC.
“We’ve said from the start that our focus was on protecting access to care, jobs and the stability of our health care system – and getting Steward out of Massachusetts,” Healey said in a statement.
Steward filed for bankruptcy protection in May. The hospital group said they planned to sell all of their hospitals while promising to keep the group’s eight Massachusetts hospitals up and running. Dallas-based Steward operates more than 30 hospitals across the country.
Since then, the hospital giant closed Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer last week as Steward scrambled to find buyers for its hospitals and physician group.
Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre is refusing to testify before a Senate committee investigating the company’s bankruptcy due to a federal order prohibiting any discussions amid ongoing reorganization. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren said Thursday he’s skirting accountability.
“He is in hiding because he does not want to answer to the American people or Congress or the patients and workers of Massachusetts for what he has done,” said Markey, speaking at a press conference Thursday. “He wants to hide from the accountability of what the last five months have exposed.”
Tim Foley, the executive vice president of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers, thanked Healey in a statement for “preserving these six hospitals.”
“With Steward finally on its way out of Massachusetts, the critical work of transitioning the hospitals to their new owners can begin,” Foley said. “Healthcare workers are the heart and soul of our hospitals, and Steward workers stuck around through months of uncertainty because of our strong commitment to our patients.”
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Report: 65% of middle class struggling financially
In an Urban Institute poll commissioned by the National True Cost of Living Coalition, 65% of American families making at least $60k a year struggle financially
Cheddar
The income needed to maintain middle-class status in the United States has risen—and it’s the highest in Massachusetts, according to calculations by SmartAsset.
Reaching middle-class in America—owning a home, saving enough money for retirement, and being able to go on occasional vacations—has long been a dream for many. But it’s one that is increasingly feeling out of reach for many Americans.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday, three in five Americans say the cost of living is going in the wrong direction. And in Massachusetts, a UMass Amherst poll found that just 40% of residents say their own economic situation is “excellent” or “good,” the lowest percentage in the past four years.
Using Pew Research Center’s definition of middle income, which is two-thirds to double the median household income, as well as the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, SmartAsset calculated the middle-class income ranges for 100 major U.S. cities and all 50 states.
The study found that Massachusetts is the most expensive state for middle-class living.
A household is considered middle class in the Bay State if it makes between $66,565 and $199,716. This is a jump from $62,986 to $188,976 last year.
The median household income in Massachusetts is $99,858.
Boston is ranked the 13th priciest city to be middle class in the U.S., with a household needing between $64,614 and $193,862.
The median income in Boston is $96,931.
Massachusetts overtook New Jersey this year as the priciest state to be middle class.
New Jersey still holds the second spot, with a range of $66,514 to $199,562. Maryland is a close third ($65,779 to $197,356).
Another New England state, New Hampshire, took the fourth spot with a range of $64,552 to $193,676.
In Arlington, Virginia, a household could be making $280,000 and still be considered middle class. Arlington is the priciest city for middle class living, with a range of $93,470 to $280,438.
California cities take up the next three spots: San Jose ($90,810 to $272,458); Irvine ($85,317 to $255,978); and San Francisco ($84,478 to $253,460).
Brookline police are considering reinstating school resource officers (SRO), after the district eliminated the program during a national reckoning with police brutality a few years ago.
“We decided back in 2021 to eliminate the program because we were very concerned about a lot of the national data that indicated that students of color, as well as students with disabilities are more likely to end up being criminalized when police are in schools,” said Raul Fernandez, the Executive Director of Brookline For Racial Justice and Equity.
Fernandez is a parent in the district who agreed with the unanimous vote by the school committee to get rid of armed police in the school district.
He fears for the safety of his child in the presence of police saying, “It’s absolutely not necessary and it also puts my kid at risk.”
But according to Brookline police, the purpose of school resource officers is to promote school safety and to enhance the relationships between students and officers.
“It’s not a law enforcement role,” said Paul Campbell, the deputy superintendent at the Brookline Police Department. “It’s almost like a teacher, student type role,” he said.
According to Campbell, SROs are an integral part of the learning experience. Before the role was eliminated, officers taught classes on various topics including internet safety and teen dating violence. But Fernandez says the benefit of those classes don’t outweigh the overall risk.
A final decision to reinstate school resource officers will come from the school committee. Brookline’s superintendent told WBZ they will revisit the topic in the coming months.
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