Industrial dispute over severance pay for Carney Hospital employees looms

Beverly Lawler says she needs a miracle – and soon.

The 62-year-old has worked for Steward Health Care for nearly half a century: 30 years at Quincy Medical Center, which closed in 2014, and the last decade as a nursing assistant at Carney Hospital. Now, with Carney set to close in two weeks, Lawler expects to lose her job, her health insurance and about $20,000 in unused paid vacation time she's accumulated over her career.

“We don't know what to do,” Lawler said. “Steward has people's lives in his hands and they don't care. They don't care at all.”

Public opposition to Steward’s decision has grown since the health care provider
Bankruptcy documents its plan to close the Carney and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer “on or about August 31.”

More than 750 employees are expected to lose their jobs when Carney closes, according to Dana Simon, a union organizer with the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

Lawler joined community leaders, elected officials and other health care workers at a rally outside a Department of Health hearing Tuesday night at Florian Hall in Dorchester. The crowd called on state officials to step in and keep Carney open. But protesters said if the hospital can't be saved, the state at least wants to make sure employees get the severance and other payments they're owed.

Tori Bedford

GBH News

Carl Odom, a cardiopulmonary technician who has worked at Carney for more than four decades and is a union representative for Service Employees International Union 1199, said if the hospital must close, Steward must fulfill its legal obligation.

“Many people in this room have 300, 400 hours [of accrued PTO]. We had no holidays or breaks, we did it because we were loyal and we should be paid for it,” he said. “Steward knows that, it's in the contract. Pay us.”

When asked about the payments, a Steward spokesperson said that “the decision has not yet been made.” In a statement to GBH News, he explained that the decision “rests with the bankruptcy court.”

Simon of the Massachusetts Nurses Association said Steward is required to pay severance pay and “accrued hours” – including paid vacation – according to
Federal law,
State law and a collective bargaining agreement
agreement between Steward and members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association and Service Employees International Union 1199, which represents approximately 5,000 workers at Steward hospitals throughout Massachusetts.

Tori Bedford

Steward has the option of filing a petition in bankruptcy court to remove the organization's legal payment obligations. A spokesman said this was “under discussion and not solely for Steward,” adding that “all expenditures must be approved by the court.”

Dr. Octavio Diaz, president of Steward's northern region, addressed those attending the hearing on Tuesday and was met with boos from the crowd. Transfers of staff and patients are already underway, Diaz said, expressing his condolences to those affected.

“Closing a hospital is painful and I can't say anything today that would make it any easier,” he said. “While the closure of Carney Hospital is deeply regrettable, it is also inevitable.”

Despite a “complex” sales process that “involved many stakeholders over many, many months,” Steward was only able to obtain offers to sell six of its eight Massachusetts hospitals, Diaz said.

Carney and Nashoba Valley patients will receive letters directing them to new doctors and hospital locations, Diaz said, and Steward has partnered with the MBTA to provide transit passes to patients who need imaging tests at new locations. In addition, a patient telephone line will be set up to “handle referrals, access to medical records, pending test results, payment questions, lost items and any other questions they may have.”

The healthcare provider also assists our employees in finding other opportunities at Steward facilities or other healthcare facilities in the Boston area,” Diaz said.

Maureen Rate, a medical secretary whose family has a long history of working at Carney and who has worked there herself for 45 years, said she has not heard from Steward about moving to a new location. Rate is six years away from retirement and is thinking about finding a new opportunity.

“I looked at South Shore, I looked at Brockton, I looked at Steward and former Steward hospitals. There are a lot of jobs in nursing, therapy or radiology, things you need a license for, but there aren't a lot of easier office jobs,” she said. “It's hard to find something when you've worked at the same place for 45 years.”

Tori Bedford

Last week, the Boston City Council issued a resolution urging the state to keep Carney open. At protests across the state, people called on Governor Maura Healey to enforce a state law that requires medical facilities to give 120 days' notice of their closure.

Healey told reporters earlier this month that the state owes Steward Medicaid money and plans to provide $30 million to keep Carney and Nashoba open through Aug. 31 and to support the six Steward hospitals that have received offers from new owners.

During Tuesday's hearing, Boston City Council members continued to urge Healey and other state politicians to intervene and prevent the closure – even though Healey has repeatedly said she does not have the power to do so.

“This is a public health issue, this is a civil rights issue, this is an emergency,” said City Councilman Ed Flynn, who previously worked as a security guard in Carney. “I will continue to advocate and fight alongside the nurses and the dedicated staff to keep this hospital open. I will not accept that from the state. And I will not accept that from the city of Boston.”

Lawler says she's still hoping for a miracle, but the clock is ticking. Her husband is disabled and needs heart surgery next month, but finding a new doctor is proving difficult and worrying about who will pay for it is keeping Lawler awake at night.

“By the end of the month, we won't have insurance or a doctor to get him the medication he needs,” she said. “We're stuck. We don't know where to go.”