Text of Letter (PDF)

BOSTON – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) joined Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health, and Retirement Security, and the entire Massachusetts Congressional delegation, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Representatives Richard Neal (MA-01), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), and Bill Keating (MA-09), today in sending a letter to Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre, and Chief Restructuring Officer John R. Castello, regarding the closure of Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center, urging Steward to provide the more than 1200+ workers facing impending layoffs with severance pay and accumulated time off they are owed. 

“We urge Steward not to hide behind the bankruptcy process and to instead recognize and fulfill its obligations to its workers. Steward must pay out their accumulated paid time off to all its workers. Some Steward workers also have negotiated severance payments in their collective bargaining agreements that Steward also must honor. For all its workers, Steward should provide as much severance in wages and benefits as practicable,” the lawmakers wrote.

“Steward and its corporate enablers have ripped financial stability, job security, and health care access from workers who have made it their life’s work to save lives. They are allowing these hospitals to close at the expense of the workers they employ and the communities they promised to serve. Meanwhile, Steward’s CEO, Dr. Ralph de la Torre, continues to flaunt his wealth at Versailles. This is shameful. Workers and communities should not suffer for the mistakes of corporate executives. We urge you and your corporate enablers to rightfully compensate the more than 1,200 workers at Carney and Nashoba Valley whom your wrongdoing has harmed and to do everything in your power to prevent the risk of hospital closures in Massachusetts and across the country,” the lawmakers continued.

A copy of the letter can be found here.

In Congress, Rep. Pressley has repeatedly demanded accountability and transparency from Steward executives, and she has been worked with her colleagues at the federal and local levels to ensure care remains accessible and Steward’s other facilities remain open.

• In August 2024, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Lynch issued a joint statement on the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s preliminary agreement to keep six Steward hospitals open under new operators.
• In July 2024, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Lynch rallied with colleagues, patients, and providers to speak out against Steward’s abrupt closure of Carney Hospital in Dorchester.
• In July 2024, Rep. Pressley issued a statement on the announcement by Steward Health Care of the closure of hospitals in Massachusetts, including Carney Hospital in Dorchester.
• In May 2024, Rep. Pressley issued a statement condemning Steward’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and failure to protect patients and workers.
• In February 2024, Rep. Pressley joined members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation in seeking answers from Cerebrus on the private equity firm’s role in creating the current financial challenges at Steward hospitals, which threaten access to medical care for thousands of people in eastern Massachusetts.
• In January 2024, following a Boston Globe report indicating that Steward Health Care System is in dire financial condition, Rep. Pressley, Sen. Warren, and the Massachusetts congressional delegation pressed Steward to brief them on Steward’s financial position, the status of their Massachusetts facilities, and their plans to ensure the communities they serve are not abandoned. 

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