A Taunton hospital sold by Steward Health Care under its bankruptcy proceedings could be closing its addiction support services program. Morton Hospital will be taken over by LifeSpan, the largest health care provider in Rhode Island.
Julie Pinkham, executive director of the Massachusetts Nurses Association and member of the Health Policy Commission Advisory Council, shared the news with the council Thursday. She says staff are now scrambling to save the program in the next few business days. A bankruptcy judge deemed that the sales must happen by Sept. 30, or the buyers can back out.
“We have exactly 36 hours to somehow resolve that problem for the employees there, of which 23 are nurses and health professionals,” she said, noting that additional staff also work the unit. “Never mind the impact to the community who’s leaving those services in a matter of less than 48 hours. So this whole thing has been a bit of a cluster.”
The 32-bed unit was launched in 2021 as a $10-million project, dubbed Morton Comprehensive Addiction Program, or MORCAP. The Level 4 Substance use disorder treatment program includes a medically managed inpatient unit and an outpatient program to address every stage of recovery.
Patients, who must be over 18, are currently offered individualized treatment plans as well as program offerings like group therapy, self-help programs like AA and pharmacological therapy.
The unit is staffed by nurses, doctors, behavioral health specialists, social workers and others. It is unclear what they will be offered when they lose their jobs.
Steward Health Care proposed relocating the unit out of the South Shore last year. At the time, the state’s Department of Public Health said the program is an essential service “necessary to preserving access and health status within the hospital’s service area.”
The move is part of an acquisition of Saint Anne’s and Morton Hospital by LifeSpan, the largest health care system in Rhode Island. The sale was approved by the bankruptcy court for a purchase price of $175 million.
Three additional Steward hospitals in Massachusetts are being sold to other owners, and two were closed.
“As Steward continues to progress through the ongoing Chapter 11 proceedings, we are thrilled to have identified such qualified acquirers for hospitals in the Commonwealth that are critical to the health of underserved populations,” said John Castellano, Steward’s Chief Restructuring Officer, said at the time of the announcement.
LifeSpan referred requests for comment to Steward, which declined to comment Thursday.
The state Department of Public Health and unions representing employees — 1199SEIU and the Massachusetts Nurses Association — did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
