Families and nurses stood together Saturday calling for Wellforce Health System to keep Tufts Hospital open to inpatient pediatric care.
In January, Tufts announced it would close the hospital, formerly known as The Floating Hospital for Children, by July. Tufts said the decision comes as they see fewer children being hospitalized.
The extra capacity will be used to meet the rising demand for adult surgery and intensive care units.
Tufts plans to continue pediatric outpatient, day surgery, and neonatal intensive care services at the facility. Those in need of inpatient pediatric care will be referred to Boston Children's Hospital.
The rally attendees claimed that Tufts provides care that other hospitals can't match. "We provide services that other facilities don’t, and we take Mass Health, no insurance, we take everybody," said Mary Havlicek Cornaccia, a staff nurse at the hospital.
"It’s critical for us and for our daughter. The condition she has is pretty rare, and the only facility that will treat her is here at Tufts Children," added Michael McCue, the father of a pediatric patient
Tufts expressed their intent to "ensure that children will be able to continue to see their same doctor/care team in the same clinic with their current insurance."
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A petition to keep Tufts Children's open has received more than 60,000 signatures in two weeks.
