Even with hospital sales approved for bankrupt Steward Health Care, state health officials say they are still bracing for a rocky path ahead and working to stay engaged with the communities that lost facilities.
Beyond the closure of Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center, the Healey administration is still entrenched in the eminent domain process to seize St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton -- and handling the uncertainty surrounding Norwood Hospital, a Steward facility not involved in the bankruptcy proceedings, Department of Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said Wednesday.
"I'm sure that there will be additional bumps in the road, even as we move closer and closer toward the resolution of this very difficult situation," Goldstein said during a Public Health Council meeting, without offering specific examples. "I have confidence in the incredible team that I've had the privilege to work with during the many months we've been dealing with these issues. But I know that whatever situation may arise, we have the system, the people, the expertise and the determination to manage them."
Dr. Gregg Meyer, who has led the state's Incident Command System for Steward, said the ongoing situation "remains VUCA."
"Volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous," Meyer said. "It is actually the perfect setting for public health preparedness and emergency preparedness to be put into place to keep things safe."
