Steward Health Care to close hospitals in Dorchester and Ayer

Gov. Maura Healey is demanding that Steward finalize deals for its remaining hospitals.

On Friday, the bankrupted Steward Health Care announced plans to close Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer.

In a statement shared with the The Boston Globe, Steward Health Care said it has been actively working to sell or transition all of its eight Massachusetts hospitals and is in the final negotiations to sell six.

However, “despite the extensive sale process, which involved close coordination with lenders and regulators, there were no qualified bids for two hospitals, Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center, and, unfortunately, they will be closing,” the company said in the statement.

According to the Globe, Steward received bids to run six other hospitals in the state, including St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Morton Hospital in Taunton, St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, and Holy Family in Methuen and Haverhill.

Norwood Hospital closed in 2020 because of flood damage was not included in the sale process.

“This is not over,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement. “It’s regrettable that Ralph de la Torre and Steward’s greed and mismanagement are resulting in the closures of Carney and Nashoba Valley hospitals. These hospitals have long served their communities — their closures are about more than the loss of beds, doctors, and nurses.”

The governor’s office says it has prepared for this moment and is taking steps to help facilitate a smooth transition for impacted patients and employees.

The Healey administration says Steward received several bids to maintain and improve five of its hospitals in three key regions.

“It is time for Steward and their real estate partners to finally put the communities they serve over their own selfish greed,” Healey said in a statement.

According to the governor’s office, the Carney and Nashoba Valley hospitals remain open and will proceed through an “orderly and regulated closure.”

In June, the governor’s office reported that an average of 13 of Carney’s 83 medical beds were filled and an average of 11 of Nashoba’s 46 beds were filled.

The next step for the two hospitals is for a bankruptcy judge to approve Steward’s closing motion.

Steward must send a closure notice to the Department of Public Health, facilitating a transition for impacted patients and employees.

A new interactive online dashboard allows patients to map nearby hospitals and understand the services available at each location.

Based in Dallas, Steward operates more than 30 hospitals in a handful of states, employing tens of thousands of workers, including 16,000 in the state. Under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, Steward is moving to restructure its debt under court supervision.