NEWTON, Mass. — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has opened an investigation into Newton-Wellesley Hospital after numerous reports of staff members diagnosed with brain tumors.
25 Investigates reported earlier this month that 6 staff members were identified as having a benign, non-cancerous brain tumor.
As of April 1, 2025, 11 staff members with ties to the labor and delivery unit had spoken with investigators surrounding the diagnoses.
On Friday, a DPH spokesperson confirms their Division of Radiation Control Program (RCP) visited the hospital and performed some confirmatory measures.
The details of that investigation weren’t immediately available.
OSHA conducted a site inspection of the hospital on Wednesday with a focus on the conditions on the labor and delivery floor.
“OSHA had received its own complaint about the working conditions and were responding accordingly,” a DPH spokesperson said.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) says their own investigation into the hospital remains ongoing.
“We are glad the hospital, DPH and OSHA are looking into this situation,” they said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Newton-Wellesley Hospital said they’re happy to have an agency involved and think this can quell concerns about their own investigation, which the MNA had previously expressed doubts about.
“The health and wellbeing of our staff, clinicians, and patients is our top priority and we have conducted a thorough investigation into our environment after reports of brain tumors in individuals who have worked in our labor and delivery and post-partum care units at some point over the past 23 years,” a spokesperson for Newton-Wellesley said. “Based on these findings, we are confident that no environmental risks are linked to these cases. We continue to support our colleagues...To be clear, our rigorous investigation has not identified any environmental trigger at Newton-Wellesley Hospital that causes brain tumors.”
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