Hospital Makes Huge Step Forward

This letter is to publicly acknowledge the tremendous effort put forth by State Senator Michael Rush, State Representative John Rogers, all cosponsors of the legislation, and Congressman Stephen Lynch who worked cooperatively with Senate President Karen Spilka, Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano, members of their respective leadership teams, Governor Maura Healey and her administration in getting House Bill H.5553 approved and enacted in this legislative session. The legislation authorizes the state to take the former Norwood Hospital site by eminent domain with the purpose of reestablishing an acute care hospital to serve the health needs of over 250,000 people in the various towns previously reliant upon Norwood Hospital for routine and lifesaving/life-changing medical care. Medical Properties Trust (MPT), the real estate investment company that mortgaged and now owns the property, has failed to complete the building and find a qualified provider in a reasonable timeframe while members of our communities had their timely access to quality healthcare compromised. Approving this legislation was no easy task, requiring legislative skills and relationships necessary to convince their legislative colleagues of the importance of this legislation not only to the people previously served by the former Norwood Hospital but to help relieve emergency room wait times and hospital overcrowding at surrounding hospitals. As a member of the Norwood Hospital Task Force, I became acutely aware of the numerous challenges associated with restoring an acute care hospital to serve our communities despite the demonstrable need. Thankfully, this legislation is a giant step forward in accomplishing that goal. There remains a lot to be accomplished in successfully going through the eminent domain process and assuring community input into said process. I strongly believe we need Senator Michael Rush, State Representative John Rogers and Congressman Stephen Lynch to continue to provide leadership and leverage their established relationships to bring to this goal to fruition. Please remember this when casting your ballots this year as we can ill afford inexperienced missteps at this critical juncture. I also want to thank my fellow Norwood Hospital Task Force members for their efforts over the past year and a half, the 8500+ petition signers and over 90,000 Instagram viewers who demonstrated their interest in this legislation. Respectfully, Stephen P Costello Norwood Hospital Task Force Member

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