By Stephen P. Wood, Special to the Reporter
For 128 years, Carney Hospital stood as a beacon of hope in Dorchester. Founded in 1863 by Andrew Carney, an Irish immigrant who built his fortune and chose to invest it in caring for Boston’s sick and poor, the hospital embodied a promise: that quality healthcare would be available to all, regardless of their ability to pay.
Through wars, epidemics, and economic upheavals, Carney endured, until August 2024, when its doors closed forever. For all their heroism, for all the lives saved and the dedication shown, Carney Hospital was allowed to die. Not from clinical failure. Not from poor outcomes. But from greed.
Steward Health Care, the private equity-backed company that owned Carney, systematically extracted wealth from the hospital while starving it of investment. while Steward executives and their financial backers enriched themselves. When the predictable financial crisis came, Steward walked away, and Carney closed—leaving 160,000 residents without a nearby emergency department.
The closure didn’t have to happen.
Boston’s major hospital systems possess the resources, the expertise, and the infrastructure to have prevented this catastrophe. But they chose not to act.
Mass General Brigham (MGB) and Lahey Health operate a combined dozen hospitals throughout Massachusetts, yet their footprint reveals a disturbing pattern: They locate where the money is.
Consider the numbers. MGB operates Massachusetts General Hospital in Beacon Hill, where the median household income exceeds $120,000. Their Newton-Wellesley Hospital serves Newton, with a median income of $127,000. Lahey Hospital & Medical Center sits in Burlington, where median income is $108,000. Even their “community” hospitals occupy relatively affluent areas—Beverly, Danvers, Melrose, Waltham.
MGB and Lahey didn’t lack the capacity to take over Carney. They lacked the will. They made a business decision to let a community hospital serving predominantly Black and Brown working-class neighborhoods simply cease to exist. No amount of corporate platitudes about “commitment to community health” can obscure this fundamental truth.
This was also a catastrophic failure of leadership by Gov. Healey. When Steward’s collapse became inevitable, when Carney’s closure loomed, the governor’s office had the power to act decisively. Instead, we got handwringing and hollow statements about “working to ensure continuity of care.” Carney Hospital should never have been allowed to close, and that failure will stain Healey’s legacy.
The question now is: what comes next?
First, MGB and Lahey-Beth Israel must be pressed to invest in reopening Carney or establishing a comparable facility in its place. These systems benefit enormously from their non-profit status, which exempts them from hundreds of millions in taxes annually. That exemption exists because of a presumed community benefit. Serving only wealthy communities while neglecting those most in need violates the spirit of that bargain. The state should make clear that continued tax exemption requires meaningful investment in underserved areas like Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury.
Second, UMass Memorial Health should explore establishing a presence in these neighborhoods. As the state’s public academic medical center, UMass has a particular obligation to serve all Massachusetts residents. A Dorchester campus would extend its mission while training the next generation of healthcare providers to practice in diverse, challenging environments.
Third, we should think creatively about new models.
Northeastern University, with its Bouvé College of Health Sciences and growing medical programs, could establish an academic hospital in partnership with the city and state. Imagine a teaching hospital where advanced practice providers, physicians, nurses, and other health professionals train while providing excellent, culturally competent care to the community. This model exists successfully elsewhere—there’s no reason Boston cannot replicate it.
The bottom line is non-negotiable: Healthcare must return to these neighborhoods. The residents of Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury deserve nothing less.
Stephen P. Wood, a Dorchester resident, is an associate clinical professor and program director of the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Program at Northeastern University’s Bouve College of Health Sciences.
