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8 Worcester Business Journal | September 2, 2024 | wbjournal.com setts' largest hospital system – UMass Memorial Health in Worcester – has floated preliminary ideas to provide healthcare access in the region, but nothing would make up for the loss of the 77-bed hospital, which was staffed by 164 physicians and 430 nurses. "ere's impacts that people don't ful- ly comprehend. I've been talking about this for two years: if Nashoba closes, or any other hospital in the state of Massa- chusetts, it's going to have a significant impact almost immediately that's going to ripple out," said Brian Borneman, chief of the Pepperell Fire Department. Steward Health Care officials declined to comment for this story. System strains Serving the area's 115,000 residents, Nashoba Valley receives approximate- ly 16,000 annual emergency room visits and approximately 91,000 annual outpatient visits. With its imminent closure, residents will need to make it to the area's next-closest hospitals, namely UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clin- ton Hospital's Leominster campus and Emerson Hospital in Concord, locations 11.5 miles and 16.8 miles away from the Ayer Fire Department, respectively, old Nashoba Valley, along with Carney Hospital in Dorchester, by Aug. 31, meaning the Nashoba Valley region's sole hospi- tal would close in just 36 days. For this rural Massachusetts area, the hospital's closure will mean extended ER wait times at neighboring hospitals already push- ing capacity, quadrupled ambulance turnaround times, and ultimately, the potential collapse of a healthcare system already spread thin. Central Massachu- As the final days for Nashoba Valley Medical Center ticked down, a rural Massachusetts community forsees a looming healthcare crisis e impact of a HOSPITAL CLOSURE BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer W hen Nashoba Valley Medical Center's parent company, Texas-based Steward Health Care, filed for bankruptcy in May, providers at the Ayer hospital weren't too concerned. "Everybody truly was like 'ere's no way it can close,' because this area wouldn't survive," Audra Sprague, an emergency room nurse at the Nashoba Valley Medical Center for 17 years. But then came July 26, and Steward announced it would close the 60-year- as opposed to the 2.4-miles-away Nashoba Valley Medical Center. But the Leomin- ster and Concord hospitals don't have a surplus of capacity, said Dr. Eric Dickson, president and CEO of UMa- ss Memorial Health. In fact, he said HealthAlliance's Leominster campus is one of the area's most overwhelmed hospitals and twice as busy as Nashoba Valley. ough UMass Memorial is working on contingency plans in an effort to prepare its neighboring hospitals for Nashoba Valley's impending closure, Dickson said nothing will be at the scale of replacing what Nashoba Valley provides. I haven't "seen a plan yet that says, 'Everything will be okay. It will function normally.' Basically, we're going to do the best we can with what we have to work with," he said. If no other provider ends up taking over the hospital or another alternative Audra Sprague, an emergency room nurse at Nashoba Valley Medical Center, stands with a cohort of her coworkers and supporters outside of the hospital ahead of its planned Aug. 31 closure. Dr. Eric Dickson, CEO and president of UMass Memorial Health Brian Borneman, Pepperell fire chief PHOTO | EDD COTE