A Haverhill, Mass.-based hospital previously operated by now-bankrupt Steward Health Care plans to stop providing medical-surgical inpatient care due to a low patient census.
The med-surg unit on Holy Family Hospital’s Haverhill campus averages eight to 10 patients per day, according to a May 29 statement shared with Becker’s. Approximately 35 employees will be affected by the change.
The facility is now under a formal 120-day public process with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
If approved, inpatient med-surg services will end while the hospital continues to offer inpatient behavioral health services, hyperbaric medicine and wound care. The campus intends to establish a satellite emergency site and is looking to develop a sleep medicine center.
The planned changes are expected to take effect by Oct. 1.
“While this is a licensure change, all the required services of an emergency facility will continue to operate as they do today, including the ability to receive ambulances and provide lab and imaging services,” the statement said. “As it is currently, patients will continue to be triaged to the most appropriate setting for their needs, including transfers to the Methuen or Lawrence campuses, or to a tertiary provider, or safely discharged.”
On Oct. 1, 2024, Lawrence General Hospital bought Holy Family Hospital’s campuses in Haverhill and Methuen, Mass., and created a regional system composed of 469 beds.
The hospitals were financially struggling as their owner, Dallas-based Steward Health Care, underwent bankruptcy.
At the time of purchase, Abha Agrawal, MD, who was then CEO of Lawrence General, told Becker’s the Holy Family Hospital campuses had “about the same number of ER visits combined as we have.”
The acquisition doubled Lawrence General’s size, workforce and revenue, but it also revealed financial cobwebs.
“Steward’s performance for Holy Family Hospital for the last two to three years makes Lawrence General’s last year performance look rosy,” Dr. Agrawal said in November. “Our most immediate thing is to stabilize clinical operations and make sure to maintain access to care, which is the reason we did the [acquisition] to start with.”
In February, Dr. Agrawal resigned from the CEO role, writing on LinkedIn the decision was based on she and the board having a “different vision and approach for the future.” Diana Richardson, who most recently served as a transition liaison with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, is the interim CEO of Lawrence General Hospital and Holy Family Hospitals.
