Connect with us

Massachusetts

Steward Health Care crisis: 1,000+ employees at Carney Hospital, Ayer facility to be laid off

Published

on

Steward Health Care crisis: 1,000+ employees at Carney Hospital, Ayer facility to be laid off


More than 1,000 employees are set to be laid off when Steward Health Care closes two of its Massachusetts hospitals at the end of the month, the bankrupt Dallas-based company told the state.

When Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer close on or around Aug. 31, roughly 1,243 employees at the two healthcare facilities will be out of work, according to a notice Steward filed with the state on Friday.

Some 753 employees at Carney are anticipated to lose their jobs, while 490 at Nashoba Valley will also be impacted, according to the notice mandated by the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act.

With the closures in sight, after a Texas-based federal bankruptcy judge decided last week to allow the debt-ridden Steward to proceed, current and former patients are being notified to file proofs of claim.

Advertisement

The deadline to file proofs of claims against the debtors is Aug. 23 at 6 p.m.

“Although you are receiving this notice it does not mean you have a claim or need to file a proof of claim,” the document from bankruptcy court states. “You do not need to file a proof of claim for any refund arising in the ordinary course of business that the debtors have been previously authorized to pay by order of the court.”

“The debtors and their advisors are unable to provide you with any legal advice,” it adds. “To the extent you seek legal or other professional advice, please consult with your own lawyer or advisor.”

Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said federal bankruptcy laws left him little choice but to allow the hospitals to close.

“Closing one hospital is real — it’s affecting the lives of people who are in there right now,” he said. “The importance of every individual weighs on me, when I’m told there could be life decisions… but from a legal standpoint, the debtors have the authority to close.”

Advertisement

Inside Ayer Town Hall last Tuesday, officials called on Gov. Maura Healey to require Steward to follow state law that forces healthcare entities planning to shutter services to notify the Department of Public Health at least 120 days in advance.

Healey had told reporters earlier last week there was nothing she could do to prevent Steward from shuttering Nashoba Valley, Carney, or any other facility. But, on Thursday, the governor said she is pressing Steward to adhere to the state Department of Public Health regulation.

“I’ve been clear with Steward, they need to stay open for 120 days. We need to have a smooth transition. Steward made the call to close those two hospitals,” Healey told reporters. “We have been hard at work looking to secure a deal that will ensure a smooth transition of ownership away from Steward to a responsible operator.”

Nashoba Valley and Carney did not receive qualified bids for purchase during an auction held on July 15, while Steward’s five other operational hospitals did.

Those facilities include Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Holy Family Hospitals in Haverhill and Methuen, Morton Hospital in Taunton, Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton.

Advertisement

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu wrote a letter to the owners of Dorchester’s Carney Hospital on Thursday, demanding that the property must be used only for healthcare purposes in the future. If not, the owners could face retribution from Wu’s office, the mayor warned.

“Our community is rightly concerned that your companies, not satisfied with the hundreds of millions in value already extracted from Steward hospitals, hope to capitalize on the closure of Carney Hospital by redeveloping the property,” Wu wrote. “I would like to be absolutely clear that my Administration will oppose any effort by ownership to rezone the property for uses other than the provision of health care. “



Source link

Advertisement

Massachusetts

Woman dead after van hits 2 people in Brockton, Massachusetts

Published

on

Woman dead after van hits 2 people in Brockton, Massachusetts



Two people were hit by a van in Brockton, Massachusetts Thursday morning and one of them died.

It happened just after 6:40 a.m. near the intersection of North Main Street and Livingston Road. The van stopped after the crash.

When police arrived, they found two people in the road, a man and a woman, both in their 40’s. The woman died at the scene. The man was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Advertisement

Their names have not been made public.

There was debris scattered across the pavement and there was a large dent on the van’s hood.

Police shut down the intersection of North Main Street and Livingston Road in Brockton, Mass. after the crash on April 2, 2026.

CBS Boston

Advertisement


It’s not clear yet what caused the crash or if the driver will be charged. State and local police shut down the intersection for their investigation.

Brockton, Massachusetts is 24 miles south of Boston.



Source link

Continue Reading

Massachusetts

Massachusetts arrested over sword-wielding, threats to Donald Trump | The Jerusalem Post

Published

on

Massachusetts arrested over sword-wielding, threats to Donald Trump | The Jerusalem Post


A Massachusetts man accused of making threats on Facebook to kill United States President Donald Trump was arrested on Wednesday after a stand-off with law enforcement in which the man began brandishing a sword.

Andrew Emerald, 45, was charged in an eight-count indictment filed in federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts, over a string of threatening posts he allegedly made last year, including one in which he vowed to travel to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida if the president was not dead by 2026.

“Either Trump is dead and in the ground by 2026, or I am hunting him down and putting him there,” Emerald wrote in another social media post in May 2025, according to the indictment.

A lawyer for Emerald did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Advertisement

His Facebook posts came to the FBI’s attention as a result of a tip from a citizen who had warned Emerald that it was a crime to threaten the life of the president, according to documents prosecutors filed seeking to have him detained.

Emerald replied that he had been threatening Trump online for a decade and that, if law enforcement came after him, “I’ll kill them until they kill me,” according to an affidavit from an FBI agent.

When the FBI on Wednesday went to his residence in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, to execute an arrest warrant, Emerald refused to come out before eventually stepping into view brandishing a long, metallic sword, the affidavit said.

The FBI agent said Emerald had previously referenced his sword in Facebook posts threatening Trump, including in July 2025, when he said he would stick it through the president’s throat.

Emerald told agents they would need to shoot him before locking his door, the FBI agent recounted.

Advertisement

Local police and an FBI crisis negotiation team were called in. He finally agreed to be arrested after a police officer reached him on his phone, the FBI agent’s affidavit said.





Source link

Continue Reading

Massachusetts

Jewish families in western Massachusetts get ready for Passover

Published

on

Jewish families in western Massachusetts get ready for Passover


CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – Jewish families in western Massachusetts and across the world are preparing to observe the eight-day festival of Passover starting at sundown Wednesday. The holiday commemorates the biblical story of Exodus and the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt.

The festival is also known as Pesach and the Festival of Unleavened Bread, according to the National Day Calendar. Its date changes annually because it is set according to the first full moon in the Hebrew calendar month of Nissan.

The roots of the holiday are found in the Old Testament. While traditionally a Jewish observance, many Christians have also begun participating in Passover celebrations.

The holiday starts with the Passover Seder, which is a ritual feast. The event includes reading, singing, washing hands, drinking wine, and eating specific foods.

Advertisement

A traditional Seder meal includes roasted lamb, flatbread called matzah, bitter herbs like horseradish, and vegetables dipped in saltwater. These items are arranged on a Seder plate.

The food and wine are ingested in a specific order during the meal. The procedure is written in a book called the Haggadah, which also includes the consumption of four cups of wine.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WWLP. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WWLP staff before being published.

Local News Headlines

Advertisement