Boston City Council Unanimously Calls on State to Preserve Steward Hospitals

BOSTON — June 26, 2024 — Boston City Council unanimously adopted a resolution urging the state to preserve all Steward Healthcare hospitals in Boston as the chain navigates bankruptcy. Councillor Edward M. Flynn introduced docket 1056, citing Carney Hospital in Dorchester and St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton as critical safety-net facilities serving high proportions of Medicaid and uninsured patients; Councillor John FitzGerald noted Carney alone handles 80 to 100 emergency visits daily, patients who would overflow already-strained hospitals if it closed. Councillor Liz Breadon called the situation a consequence of "private equity taking over hospitals, ransacking and extracting all the assets." A bid deadline has been pushed to mid-July, with an auction set for July 18 and a Dallas bankruptcy court confirmation hearing scheduled for July 31. The council also referred to committee a new ordinance from Councillor Tanya Fernandez-Anderson creating a discretionary constituent services fund for each council office, and hearing orders on gender-neutral bathrooms in city buildings and on 911 outage contingency plans following a statewide two-hour outage on June 18.