MNA: DPH Presses MGB for Answers on Burn Unit Closure Plan, Echoing Nurses' Concerns About Safety and Capacity at Brigham and Women's Hospital

State regulators say MGB failed to adequately address staff competency and burn care capacity, which are core patient safety issues raised by Brigham nurses

BOSTON, March 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is requiring Mass General Brigham (MGB) provide further answers after determining that Brigham and Women's Hospital's (BWH) initial plan to close its inpatient burn service failed to address critical patient safety concerns that Brigham nurses have been raising for months.

In a March 2 response letter, DPH made clear that MGB did not adequately explain how BWH will maintain the competency of its own staff to safely stabilize and treat burn patients once the unit is closed. Regulators specifically questioned MGB's reliance on Massachusetts General Hospital's burn program, stating that BWH must demonstrate how its own staff will remain prepared to handle complex burn cases, including during emergencies and mass casualty events.

DPH also found MGB's data on burn patient utilization incomplete, requesting additional information on the number of burn patients treated at BWH and their length of stay over multiple fiscal years. This position further calls into question the justification for eliminating the service.

"The DPH's concerns are the exact concerns Brigham nurses raised when MGB announced the closure and at the DPH hearing," said Kelly Morgan, RN, Chair of the BWH MNA Bargaining Committee. "You cannot dismantle a highly specialized burn team at the Brigham and expect the same level of care to exist."

Brigham nurses have consistently warned that closing the BWH burn unit would erode critical regional capacity and put patients at risk, especially in emergencies when timely access to burn care is essential. DPH's scrutiny reinforces those warnings and underscores that MGB has yet to provide a credible plan to protect patients.

"With DPH now questioning MGB's plan in multiple areas, it is clear this closure puts patient safety at risk," said Jim McCarthy, RN, Vice Chair of the BWH MNA Bargaining Committee. "We urge MGB to halt this plan and work with frontline caregivers to protect lifesaving burn care at Brigham and Women's Hospital."

This exchange follows DPH's earlier finding that the BWH burn service is "necessary" to preserve access and health status in the region.

In its Essential Services Finding, the DPH required Mass General Brigham (MGB) to submit a detailed plan within 15 calendar days explaining how access to inpatient burn services will be maintained. Included in the finding was a requirement that MGB address two central concerns raised by nurses during the January 20 public hearing:

• "Competency of Staff" – DPH cites testimony about "the loss of a specially trained staff that was built over time and cannot be quickly recreated once the service has been closed," and requires MGB to explain "how the Hospital intends to maintain staff competency once the burn unit has closed."
• "Burn Surge Capacity" – DPH requires MGB to address "the role Brigham and Women's Hospital will play in such an emergency where the number of burn victims is great and MGH has reached capacity."

On Tuesday, February 17, a strong majority of nurses who work in the combined ICU and step-down unit at BWH which includes burn care sent a letter to MGB Board Chair Scott Sperling and CEO Dr. Anne Klibanski urging them to reverse the closure decision.

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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