Concerns over the pace of the process put in place to find a solution to the Nashoba Valley’s loss of its only hospital have grown, now that we’ve witnessed what disclosed steps have been taken to address this crucial need.
Baby steps would seem the best description.
As reported by the State House News Service, representatives of the nonprofit Health Care For All have canvassed thousands of people in communities affected by the closures of both former Steward Health Care holdings Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer and Carney Hospital in Dorchester.
Executive Director Amy Rosenthal recapped the sprawling public-engagement efforts — designed to supplement efforts also underway by working groups tasked with developing recommendations for affected communities’ health-care needs — at the Health Policy Commission’s cost trends hearing Nov. 14.
In the Nashoba area, 56% of people say their top concern is the absence of an emergency department nearby, Rosenthal said. Around Carney, 18% of people say the economic impacts caused by the hospital closure are their top concern, compared to 15% who say it is having no ED nearby and 14% citing the loss of inpatient facilities.
Rosenthal said canvassing is winding down, and Health Care For All is collaborating with the work groups to hold “visioning sessions.”
“We’ll run about a dozen of these (visioning sessions), where we’ll talk with community members over a longer period of time to understand what the suggestions they have about what their communities need in terms of health care, in terms of access, in terms of services,” Rosenthal said.
That Nashoba Valley working group — co-chaired by Joanne Marqusee, the assistant secretary in the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and Ayer Town Manager Robert Pontbriand — held its first meeting in October.