Gov. Healey signs legislation that would officially allow the state to take over Norwood Hospital

NORWOOD, Mass. — Legislation years in the making, finally signed by Gov. Maura Healey on Friday.

“...bottom line, we want to see a hospital reopen here!” Healey said in a press conference across from the hospital.

It gives the state the power to seize the Norwood Hospital via eminent domain and officially puts the current landlord, Medical Properties Trust, on notice.

“Today, we take an important step in saying to the current owner, get your act together, you’ve got two months, and if you don’t, the state’s going to come in and take this over,” she explained.

Story continues below Trending Shorts

“...and return it to single, a mission hospital, a non-profit hospital whose only mission is to provide excellent health care to the people of this region,” Rep. Stephen Lynch added.

The hospital has been vacant since it flooded in 2020. Then came the bankruptcy of Steward Healthcare.

Ever since, hundreds of thousands of people have been left without a local hospital, and first responders without a close option to bring patients in an emergency.

“Every second counts, and there have been people who have gone down, and if this was still here, you don’t know they could have been saved, and that’s what is so tragic,” resident Jody Smith said.

“It’s not just the loss of this hospital. When an ambulance goes out of town to go to Boston or go to Brockton, now that towns without. When we have an emergency, another towns ambulance has to cover that and it creates a trickle-down theory that is not conducive to pleasant or positive patient outcome,” Firefighter Dennis Mawn, Union President of Norwood Firefighters Local 1631, further explained.

Another key player in the effort to restore the Norwood Hospital, the town’s general manager, Tony Mazzucco.

Mazzucco recalled being there the night of the catastrophic flooding during the press conference, but now he said he could breathe a little easier with this newfound hope.

“This is absolutely the turning point of Norwood Hospital coming back; we are on the offensive, and I would say there are fewer days ahead than there have been behind us on this path,” he said.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2026 Cox Media Group