BOSTON — Patients and medical personnel are suing Boston Children’s Hospital to stop construction on a $1.2 billion expansion that would include razing a historic therapeutic garden.
Tuesday, Boston attorney Greg McGregor filed the lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court, asking a judge to issue an injunction against BCH to halt any construction or fundraising efforts on its planned 12-floor tower on the Longwood campus that would include an expanded neo-natal unit.
“What this suit is about…is it alleges the hospital has jumped the gun,” McGregor told FOX25. “No hospital, no matter how good or how big it is, is above the law.”
The lawsuit claims BCH officials failed to obtain an application from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, called a “determination of need” before they began raising money and issuing construction bids.
The construction project threatens the future of the historic Prouty Garden, a quiet space that patients, families and even hospital personnel have used as an escape from the stress, grief and pain tied to serious illness.
One construction permit, filed in the court paperwork, showed a city-issued permit with a construction start date listed as “24-Aug-2015” – seven months before BCH held its first public hearing on the project.
FOX25 was at that hearing in February, where hundreds of supporters begged state health officials to save the garden, and initiate an independent, third party cost analysis of the project.
“It’s started the race before everybody else, and especially before the Department [of Public Health] can even get a start on its review of the costs,” McGregor said.
In a statement, a hospital spokeswoman told FOX25:
“As a policy Boston Children’s Hospital does not comment on the specifics of ongoing litigation. Boston Children’s welcomes the opportunity to address the claims outlined in the lawsuit. For more than three years, Boston Children’s has pursued our project to build a clinical building on our Longwood campus to meet the needs of our patients and staff and the growing demand for our care. Throughout the public process we’ve earned approval at every step of the way."
A hearing on the injunction has been set for May 3.
Cox Media Group
