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16 Worcester Business Journal | December 25, 2023 | wbjournal.com More challenges await health care in 2024 BY ISABEL TEHAN WBJ Staff Writer T he Central Massachusetts healthcare enterprise has struggled in 2023, and despite the lessening of COVID-19 concerns, the situation going into 2024 will remain challenging in terms of financial viability and access to care. North Central will see more trouble When UMass Memorial Health announced its plans to rollback maternity care service by eliminating the labor and delivery unit in Leominster, the hospital system was immediately met by serious community pushback lasting the duration of the summer. Community advocates protested the closure until its last day, citing concerns about worsening access to care, especially among vulnerable populations. Despite the efforts, the unit closed in September, worsening the landscape for health care in North Central Massachusetts, particularly maternity care. Hospital financials will continue to struggle Heywood Healthcare in Gardner filed for bankruptcy in October, W UMass Memorial Health exploring merger with Milford Regional hospital UMass Memorial Health, the largest healthcare provider in Central Mas- sachusetts, has signed a non-binding letter of intent to explore a potential affiliation with one of the region's few remaining independent hospitals, Mil- ford Regional Medical Center and its Milford Regional Physician Group Milford Regional is facing difficulties surviving as an independent commu- nity hospital in the current healthcare landscape following the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustained financial losses have inhibited its ability to act on nec- essary growth and expansion, accord- ing to a joint press release from the two organizations on Sept. 27. "Building on the foundation of our outstanding team, high quality care, mature physician network and our supportive community, a future corpo- rate affiliation with UMass Memorial Health would make it possible for us to move forward with necessary and stra- tegic expansion, among other mutually beneficial opportunities, to continue to meet the growing needs of our commu- nity, locally," Milford Regional Presi- dent and CEO Edward Kelly said in the press release. Milford Regional is the sixth-largest hospital in Central Massachusetts with 148 beds and 2,411 employees, accord- ing to the WBJ Research Department. e hospital reported revenues of $255 million in 2022. Milfird Regional Phy- sician Group is the fih-largest physi- cian group locally with 130 physicians. Milford Regional Medical Center became the first hospital to be clini- cally affiliated with UMass Memorial Medical Center in 1991. Since then, many additional clinical and educa- tional programs have been created with UMass Memorial Health, according to the press release. e exploration does not neces- sarily mean the deal will be complet- ed. In May 2022, UMass Memorial Health announced that it was entering non-binding discussions of a merger with Heywood Healthcare of Gardner. In January, those systems called off the potential merger with UMass Memori- al Health President and CEO Dr. Eric Top healthcare news from 2023 aer a series of challenges including a canceled merger with UMass Memorial Health, the removal of its decade-long CEO, and a stop on construction of its $29-million surgical pavilion, which is now resulting in a series of lawsuits for unpaid work. e hospital's financial failure is a symptom of larger macroeconomic challenges for hospital finances across the state, which may manifest in more bankruptcies in 2024. Pandemic precautions will remain loosened After three long years of mask mandates in hospitals, Worcester- based UMass Memorial Health, the largest healthcare system in Central Massachusetts, lifted the caregiver mask mandate in May. Less than three months later, the hospital in August reinstated the mandate amid increased spread among employees, sparking concern a fall surge was on the horizon. Since then, hospitals have worked to stay ahead of the spread and have largely made it to the end of 2023 without a significant spike for the first time since 2020. PHOTO | CHRISTINE PETERSON The unfinished $29-million surgical pavilion at Heywood Hospital in Gardner Financial strains and the need to curb ser- vices will impact the in- dustry's operations for the foreseeable future