Steward Health Care closures leads to longer ambulance trips, increased ER visits

BOSTON — When Steward Health Care left the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, five hospitals were transferred to new operators, and two were closed.

It’s been a year and a half since the closures.

Nashoba Valley Medical Center shut down on August 31, 2024.

Back in November, Ayer Fire Chief Tim Johnston spoke about the long-term impacts of the closure.

He said, “It’s been very challenging. If you had asked me in the first 30 days, I said it wasn’t going to be sustainable. But, but the pace hasn’t slowed.”

Johnston said 80% of EMS runs would go to NVMC.

Now they’re travelling farther to UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital Leominster and Emerson Hospital in Concord.

State data shows that in August 2024 before the closure, 1.9% of ambulance trips went from Ayer to Leominster.

A year later it jumped to 8.3%.

Similarly, 1% of ambulance trips went to Concord from Ayer in august 2024.

That was up to 5.4% of emergency ambulance trips a year later.

Johnston said, “We used to be done those calls about one hour, now we’re an hour to two hours, and we’re not within our response district either.”

Emergency Ambulance Data:

UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital Leominster:

August 2024 - 1.9% of emergency ambulance trips went from Ayer to Leominster ER

August 2025 – 8.3% of emergency ambulance trips went from Ayer to Leominster ER

The full set of data:

January - Dec 2024 - 0.5% / 0% / 0% / 0.4% / 0.9% / 0.9% / 0.9% / 1.9% / 8.8% / 5.9% / 6.7% / 6.7% – average 2.8%

January - Dec 2025 - 7.4% / 7.7% / 7% / 6.3% / 9.8% / 7.5% / 8.3% / 8.3% / 7.3% / 7.9% / 6.5% / 6.2% – average 7.5%

Emerson Hospital:

August 2024 - 1% of emergency ambulance trips went from Ayer to Emerson ER

August 2025 – 5.4% of emergency ambulance trips went from Ayer to Emerson ER

The full set of data:

January - Dec 2024 - 1.4% / 2.1% / 1.1% / 1.1% / 1.4% / 1.2% / 1% / 1% / 4.9% / 3.6% / 4.4% / 6.1% – average 2.4%

January - Dec 2025 -5.1% / 6.4% / 4.2% / 5.1% / 5.5% / 4.6% / 4.7% / 5.4% / 4.4% / 6.2% / 3.5% / 5.4% – average 5.04%

“We’re watching this really closely. We look at the numbers on a daily basis to understand emergency room volume all across the state, but in particular around Nashoba Valley Medical Center,” said Department of Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein.

Commissioner Goldstein said the state has seen a slight increase in people at those area emergency rooms.

Data from 2025 showed an average 6.95% monthly increase in Leominster emergency department visitors.

Emerson Hospital saw an average 17.08% monthly increase in emergency department visitors in last year compared to 2024.

Emergency Department Data:

UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital Leominster saw an average 6.95% monthly increase in emergency department visitors in 2025 from January through December compared to those months in 2024.

January - Dec 2025 - 13.9% / 18.7% / 10.9% / 14.6% / 4.7% / 13.5% / 2.0% / 3.8% / 0% / -0.3% / 0% / 1.6%

February spiked to 18.7% more visits than in 2024.

September evened out, and October saw a .3% decrease in visits compared to 2024.

Emerson Hospital saw an average 17.08% monthly increase in emergency department visitors in 2025 from January through December compared to those months in 2024.

January - Dec 2025 - 12.8%/ 12.4% / 7.5% / 6.9% / 19% / 29% / 24% / 23.2% / 15.7% / 22.2% / 15.8% / 16.5%

June spiked to 29% more visits than in 2024.

“We’re not seeing an increase in the numbers of patients leaving without being seen by a provider, which is a really good marker that wait times aren’t too long, that there are enough providers to take care of the patients that are coming in. And we’re not seeing significant increases in the number of folks who are admitted to hospitals,” said Goldstein.

Commissioner Goldstein said that as Steward Health Care was collapsing in bankruptcy, hospitals were full, emergency medical services were under pressure, and workforce was understaffed.

The state was at risk of losing eight hospital campuses.

St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Morton Hospital in Taunton, and Holy Family Hospital with campuses in Methuen and Haverhill all got new operators.

Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer and Carney Hospital in Dorchester did not.

“There were challenges before the closure. Since the closure, I think we’ve seen exacerbation of a lot of those challenges, in particular for our emergency medical services,” said Goldstein. He added what they did reserve was outpatient providers.

A new UMass Memorial Satellite Emergency Facility is under construction in Groton with plans to open next year.

The state also gave $2 million to eight communities in the first year of the closures.

An additional $5 million dollars has been approved this year for 13 communities to help cover increased costs.

Ayer used their portions of the funds to buy a paramedic car in the first year.

“Our goal would be to add have additional staffing during our peak times when we have EMS runs when we have the most runs to hire additional staffing with whatever funds are given to us,” said Johnston.

Another former steward location still in limbo is Norwood Hospital.

Historic flooding shut down the hospital in 2020.

Lawmakers are now working on a bill that could give the state control over the property through eminent domain.

Goldstein commented, “What exists right now, what Steward was able to build with the limited resources that they put towards Norwood Hospital was just the shell of that building. Until there’s a new operator who’s going to come in and funds the ongoing operations and the building of that hospital, I think that the shell is what will remain.”

Norwood General Manager Tony Mazzucco told Boston 25 last month there’s been a public health crisis in Norfolk County ever since the hospital shutdown.

Under the proposed bill, the state could take over if there’s a public health emergency in the area.

“Right now if somebody has a heart attack in the town of Norwood or any of the surrounding towns you’re going to Brockton or into Boston so we’ve clocked that for an average transport time for a critical care incident is 39 minutes,” said Mazzucco.

He hopes the bill will put pressure on reopening it, adding there has been significant interest from potential operators over the last six months.

During a public hearing last week, state lawmakers urged that the bill move forward, saying there is no future for property owner Medical Properties Trust in Massachusetts.

Representative John Rogers said, “MPT can afford to play the waiting game until it can find a suitable operator at the highest price it demands and all behind closed doors. Our people cannot afford to play that game, our people cannot afford to wait.”

One Norfolk County resident also weighed in during public comment and said, “I’m here just as a guy that walked in on the street from walpole because I was in the city today to just say we’re standing behind everyone of the professionals that have come before me and said we need this.”

The state has used eminent domain for a hospital before back in 2024. But Goldstein said that was under different circumstances.

“St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center now BMC Brighton was a fully operating hospital. Patients were in beds in that hospital on august 31st 2024. There were people who were coming into that emergency room on a daily basis. It was necessary for that hospital to remain in operation going into the fall of 2024,” he said.

Commissioner Goldstein did not comment on the pending legislation but did say Norwood and the state would need a healthcare partner to manage the hospital.

“We will engage with any healthcare operator that wants to come in and operate a hospital or any medical facility in Norwood because we believe that we should be part of the conversation, part of the discussion of how to best deliver care in Norwood. But with this particular bill, I think we’ll let the legislature make a decision on whether they want to move forward with that before we as a state make a decisions on how we would implement it.”

As Carney Hospital in Dorchester, owner HYM investment group shares this about the project:

“The HYM Investment Group and My City at Peace are working with the abutters of 2100 Dorchester Avenue, the former site of Carney Hospital, as well as the entire Dorchester community, Dorchester civic associations, elected officials, and healthcare stakeholders, to envision a new future for the site. The development team looks forward to continuing this collaboration to advance a plan that restores equitable access to healthcare, supports community well-being, and delivers new housing, good-paying jobs, and an opportunity to reestablish the site as a place of healing and connection for Dorchester and Lower Mills. The team also looks forward to working in partnership with the City of Boston to implement the recommendations of the Dorchester Health Planning Working Group Report, summarized below.”

Commissioner Goldstien said most health care facilities require approval through the Department of Public Health and they have not received anything from HYM or their partners on this at this time.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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