House passes hospital taking

State Rep. John Rogers announced last week that the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed its side of the legislation to allow the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to take the Norwood Hospital property from Medical Properties Trust (MPT) by eminent domain.

“The House of Representatives has passed H.5553, legislation authorizing the Commonwealth to acquire the Norwood Hospital property through eminent domain,” he wrote on social media. “The bill was passed to be engrossed by the House with bipartisan support and has now been sent to the Senate for its consideration. If passed by the Senate and signed into law by the Governor, the legislation would authorize the Commonwealth to acquire the property through eminent domain as efforts continue to support the reopening of Norwood Hospital and ensure access to local healthcare services for the surrounding communities.”

The bill states that the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) is the entity within the state that would take the property for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The property then would be, according to the legislation’s wording as passed by the House last week (the Senate may change it and send it back) “may sell, lease or otherwise convey 17 the parcels of land so taken and transferred, or any portion thereof, to a qualified nonprofit 18 hospital operator, upon such terms and conditions as the department considers appropriate, in 19 order to effectuate the purpose of ensuring access to health care for the public.”

The legislation does not mention any for-profit enterprise in its text, implying that no such operator would be allowed.

According to reporting by WGBH and the State House News Service, the State Senate gave the bill its initial approval on Monday. As of the date of publication, no vote has gone forth.

Eminent domain requires “fair compensation” for the taking of the hospital property to MPT, which means around the current assessed value for the land. While the construction of the hospital total is estimated around $250 million, it’s currently assessed around $80 million, which would not be a bad haul for the state to get a new hospital.

That being said, the hospital is currently a shell. MPT built only what it needed to sell the site or rent out to an operator. The operator or owner would foot the bill for the remaining necessities of a hospital, and construction on that has been estimated at 18 months.

Mass General Brigham (MGB) had been in negotiations with MPT last fall. Rogers had said they were in talks to buy the property from MPT for around $250 million, and, suddenly, MPT wanted $375 million for the property – https://gvimes.link/nrwdhsptltm – and MGB balked.

Norwood Town Manager and Norwood Hospital Task Force (NHTF) Chair Tony Mazzucco said the house bill passage was a relief, to say the least.

“We are thrilled the House has passed the bill and Senate votes are imminent,” he said. “The time is now to finish the job.”

The Town is still moving ahead with its own eminent domain push, which it started a few weeks after the first state legislation was filed. Mazzucco said at the time the Town’s efforts were a backup plan in case the state legislation failed, and that they needed to start preparation for court efforts as soon as possible to get it through when/if the state legislation failed.

Mazzucco said when/if Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signs the legislation into law, the Town’s process doesn’t necessarily stop.

“No efforts stop until MPT is out,” he said.

The NHTF issued its own statements on the news on Tuesday.

“Rep. Rogers has been a staunch advocate for our residents and for the future of health care in Norwood,” said NHTF member Jack McCarthy, retired Executive Director of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). “Today’s House vote represents meaningful progress. We are grateful for Rep. Roger’s hard work, the support of his fellow House members, and the leadership shown by House Speaker Rep. Ronald J. Mariano. However, our work is not finished.”

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The NHTF recently released a report – https://gvimes.link/hsptlrpt – detailing how the loss of the hospital’s has negatively affected the region.

The hospital shut down six years ago after massive rainfall inundated the building and put several feet of water into its basement, where all the mechanicals, heating, and ventilation equipment was. The hospital was deemed a complete loss and Steward, then the hospital’s operator paying rent to MPT, vowed to reopen the hospital.

After a lengthy Department of Public Health Determination of Need process and Steward opting to reopen without its previous maternity ward and psychiatric beds the old hospital had, the company fantastically imploded. Cracks began to appear in 2023 when rumors were spreading that contractors weren’t being paid while working on the hospital, and then Steward ceased operations entirely and sold/closed everything it had.

MPT took over the construction project from Steward in 2024, completed the shell and recently completed the parking garage. Since then, there has been little word from the company on the project.

For more information on the efforts to reopen the hospital, go to FinishtheJobNorwood.com

To sign a petition to help raise awareness and help push the bill forward in the senate, go to https://gvimes.link/hospetition