Tomorrow, a five-day overflow shelter limit goes into effect as part of Gov. Maura Healey’s attempt to limit the influx of migrants into the state.
Healey’s administration opened up emergency shelters to house new migrants, and pressured the federal government to expedite work permits. But shelter space is at capacity and funds are running out, Healey said.
“We can’t continue to house people,” the governor told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday.
Healey said the five-day limit gives people time to meet with a case manager to connect with family elsewhere in the United States, or with other employment services that the state will continue to provide.
But some immigration advocates have said five days is not enough time. Craig Andrade, associate dean of practice at Boston University’s School of Public Health, has called the policy “inhumane.” Healey said the opposite.
“It would be inhumane of me to sugarcoat what’s going on, or what people would be facing if they come to Massachusetts,” she said.
Healey also answered questions on Boston Public Radio about recent announcements of two Steward Health Care hospital closures. The governor said her team is focused on keeping Carney Hospital in Dorchester and the Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer open for at least another 120 days as they work with Steward to transition to “responsible hospital ownership,” she said.
But after that 120 days, the state cannot force the company to keep the hospitals open once they run out of money, Healey said.
Steward is in bankruptcy court now and Healey said there’s “a deal on the table” with lenders. Healey said they are working to break or reduce the leases for remaining Steward hospitals to reduce costs for new operators.
“We’ve got, we think, operators who are responsible, who would be able to come in and take over. But we need the lenders to put greed aside and and get that done,” Healey said.
