Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | January 13, 2025 | wbjournal.com I N B R I E F Chief workforce officer "FHCW's mission to serve our community aligns perfectly with my passion for cultivating inclu- sive workplaces that empower individuals and teams." Leon Wilkerson, on assuming his new role as Family Health Center of Worcester's inaugural chief workforce officer, as the community health center tries to recruit and retain workers New company owner "I'm leaving the company in wonderful hands. Kerry is a fabulous president and owner to take the company into the future." Jennie Lee Colosi, former president and owner of E.T.& L., on naming Kerry Maynard as the Stow-based heavy construction company's new president and owner. Maynard's appointment marks the company's first non-familial owner in 70 years. Pictured is Maynard. Cannabis grants "The Cannabis Social Equity Grant Program demonstrates the Commonwealth's continuing objective to promote equitable participation in the cannabis industry." Rep. Daniel Donahue (D-Worcester), chair of the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy, on the state granting 180 Massachusetts cannabis businesses a total $25 million as part of its Cannabis Social Equity Grant Program. Twelve Central Massachusetts companies split $4.75 million of the government funding. BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer C entral Massachusetts hospitals were spiraling financially and eventually had to file for bankrupt- cy or shutter, the state auditor found a key industry watch- dog was not properly monitoring the situation or holding the hospitals to account, which are claims the watch- dog agency disputes. "People must have access to the vital health care services they need," State Auditor Diana DiZoglio said in a Jan. 3 press release accompanying the report. "Our audit of the Center for Health Information and Analysis revealed a startling lack of oversight around the financial conditions of hospitals in the commonwealth." e audit claims the Center for Health Information and Analysis did not adequately monitor financial conditions of acute care hospitals and health systems nor assess the neces- sary fines against them. CHIA has outright disputed some of these claims and classified others as misleading. e audit says CHIA's 2021 and 2022 Massachusetts Acute Hospital Fi- nancial Performance Reports did not include mentions of essential services being cut from six acute care hospitals and it did not complete any health system profiles for the eight hospitals operated by Texas-based Steward Health Care during that time period, according to a Jan. 3 press release. e audit found CHIA never collect- ed audited financial statements from 10 hospitals including Athol Hospital, Heywood Hospital in Gardner, and the now-shuttered Nashoba Valley Medi- cal Center in Ayer. DiZoglio's office claims CHIA did not assess potential fines of $1.61 mil- lion for acute care hospitals and health systems that did not file financial reports by required deadlines, a claim CHIA said is misguided due to the agency's extension policy. "It is imperative to note that CHIA's fining authority is discretionary under statute and regulations; the agency issues fines [against] entities when necessary for compliance with report- ing requirements, as it fined Steward Healthcare. e $1,613,000 figure ref- erenced in the report is misguided as it does not account for CHIA's discretion for reasonable extensions, Heywood's inability to complete audited finan- As Central Mass. hospitals struggled, audit claims watchdog agency failed to sufficiently monitor Nurses and other members of the Nashoba Valley Medical Center workforce rallied in front of the Ayer hospital before its closure on Aug. 31. PHOTO | WBJ FILE cials, nor the agency's prior fines and active litigation with Steward," CHIA said. CHIA said it attempted to collect audited financial statements from Hey- wood Healthcare, the Gardner-based parent company of Heywood and Athol hospitals, but the system was not able to supply them. "e report misleadingly references audited financial statements from 10 hospitals under two healthcare systems (Heywood Healthcare and Steward Health Care) that were not collected during the audit period and corre- sponding penalties that were not im- posed. Heywood Healthcare was unable to issue an audited financial statement from a registered certified public ac- countant in [fiscal year] 2021 and [fiscal year] 2022; and, therefore, did not have an audited financial statement to pro- duce," CHIA wrote in an email to WBJ. Heywood Healthcare confirmed with WBJ the system was not able to provide financial statements for both Heywood Hospital and Athol Hospital due to errors, which contributed to the system filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2023. Heywood further stated it did provide unaudited financials during that time period. e system has since exited bankruptcy. Additionally, CHIA affirms the agen- cy sought statements from Dallas-based Steward Health Care, the parent com- pany of Nashoba Valley Medical Center, and has since filed a lawsuit over the system's refusal to submit the required statements. Steward Health Care did not respond to WBJ's request for comment for this article. W

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