Lawmakers to Hold June 25 Hearing on Bill to Study Access to Essential Healthcare Services Across Massachusetts as Hospital Closures Devastate Patients and Communities

Bill to assess the state of healthcare in Massachusetts and access to essential services pairs with MNA legislation giving the public more enforcement over hospital closures

BOSTON, June 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As patients and communities across Massachusetts continue to reel from hospital closures and the loss of essential health services, lawmakers will hear testimony on An Act Assessing Healthcare Access (SD1058/HD2593) during a virtual Joint Committee on Public Health hearing on Wednesday, June 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Filed by Senator Jacob Oliveira and Representative Ted Philips, this legislation would initiate a comprehensive statewide study to examine Massachusetts' current healthcare infrastructure, access gaps, and projected needs – especially in the wake of widespread service reductions and closures over the past three decades.

"We desperately need more transparency about the healthcare needs of Massachusetts patients and their ability to access care," said Katie Murphy, a practicing ICU nurse and President of the Massachusetts Nurses Association. "Right now, critical decisions about who gets care and where are being made without a full picture of what our communities need. This bill is a first step in putting patients rather than profits at the center of our healthcare planning."

Legislative Hearing Details
What: Hearing of the Joint Committee on Public Health
When: Wednesday, June 25, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Virtual hearing (public may view via livestream at https://malegislature.gov/)
Legislation: An Act Assessing Healthcare Access (SD1058/HD2593), Sponsors: Sen. Jacob Oliveira and Rep. Ted Philips
Testifying: Amy Gagnon, RN at Leominster Hospital; Alan P. Sager, PhD Professor, Health Law, Policy & Management at Boston University School of Public Health, who helped write the bill

The bill would task the Department of Public Health with analyzing existing healthcare capacity, measuring future needs, and assessing the cumulative impact of more than 40 hospital and unit closures since 2009, as well as closures further back to the 1990s. It would additionally evaluate the effects of ongoing staffing shortages and reductions in services such as maternity care and behavioral health treatment.

The MNA is also working with lawmakers on related legislation to strengthen Massachusetts' hospital closure law amid a surge in financially driven shutdowns that have left entire regions without critical care services – most recently, last year's closures of Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center due to the financial mismanagement of Steward Healthcare's leadership and the resulting bankruptcy.

Despite repeated DPH rulings deeming these closures harmful to public health, hospitals have moved forward with little resistance from the state.

"Current Massachusetts law is failing to address this crisis for patients and their caregivers," Murphy said. "We need to re-center patients as the most important part of our healthcare system, rather than profits. We must ensure mothers and babies, people suffering from mental health or substance use issues, and all our most vulnerable residents can access the care they need."

Related MNA Essential Services Legislation

An Act Relative to the Closing of Hospital Essential Services (S. 1503)
Sponsors: Sen. Julian Cyr/Rep. Michael Kushmerek & Rep. Christine Barber

• This bill would extend the official notice period to the Department of Public Health (DPH) in advance of a closure or discontinuation of health services and require any hospital proposing closure or discontinuation of health services to provide evidence of having notified and provided the opportunity for comment from affected municipalities before the notification period begins.
• It would also instruct the Attorney General to seek an injunction to maintain the essential services for the duration of the notice period and require the Attorney General to sign on any closure or discontinuation of services deemed "essential" by the DPH.
• Additionally, the bill would prohibit the hospital from eligibility for an application for licensure or expansion for a period of three years from the date the service is discontinued, or until the essential health service is restored, or until such time as DPH is satisfied with a modified plan.
• There is added language that would prohibit the closure of an essential health service during a public health emergency.

An Act Preserving Access to Hospital Services (S. 1574)
Sponsors: Sen. Paul Mark/Rep. Margaret Scarsdale

• There is currently no mechanism to keep a hospital open even if the Department of Public Health (DPH) deems it necessary to the community. This became particularly clear during the Steward crisis when eight hospitals were threatened with closure and the state said it was powerless to keep them open. Two of these hospitals were closed and we have no process in place for when this happens again.
• This bill would require the Department of Public Health to establish a process for state receivership of a hospital or free-standing clinic that is pending closure.

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 26,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association