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UMass HealthAlliance Clinton Hospital-Leominster campus

Leominster Hospital maternity ward faces closure, protest planned for Tuesday night

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LEOMINSTER — The maternity ward at Leominster Hospital is facing closure in the fall by the UMass Memorial Health system that owns it, causing condemnation from the entire North Central Massachusetts legislative delegation and a planned protest rally on Tuesday.

UMass Memorial Health Alliance – Clinton Hospital President Steve Roach blamed “industry-wide workforce shortages” and “a declining birth rate” in the region for shuttering the popular birthing center.

The area’s legislative delegation released a joint statement calling the closure an “unjustified decision” which is “completely unacceptable and cannot stand.” The statement referenced high maternal mortality and that losing the unit “jeopardizes the health and safety of mothers and their newborns in our community.”

Patients in labor will be forced to travel much further to give birth in Worcester, Gardner, or Concord, with some inevitably forced to deliver in the Leominster, Fitchburg, or Clinton emergency rooms or on the side of the road trying to make it to a still open maternity unit.

UMass Memorial Health has notified the state Department of Public Health that it plans to close the labor and delivery unit on Sept. 22, but regulators must first approve the plan.

The protest rally will take place on Tuesday, May 30 at 6 p.m. at the corner of Nelson and North Main streets in Leominster, near the hospital. Local, state, and federal elected officials will be in attendance as well as members of the public.

The legislators said the impending closure shows an “unacceptable pattern” of “gutting healthcare services in North Central—and two Gateway Cities—of the critical healthcare services we need most,” noting the previous loss of services such as the mental health and urgent care center at Burbank Hospital in Fitchburg, cardiac and pulmonary rehab and inpatient pediatric unit in Leominster, and endoscopy and ambulatory services in Clinton.

“Enough is enough,” said state Sen. John Cronin and state Reps. Natalie Higgins, Meg Kilcoyne, Mike Kushmerek, Kimberly Ferguson, Margaret Scarsdale and Jonathan Zlotnik.

“This was an especially difficult decision for our health system, as our compassionate caregivers have helped thousands of parents and families navigate the birthing journey and welcome new loved ones into their lives for so many decades,” Roach said in a statement released to the press.

However, the legislative delegation said “no other alternative” will be acceptable to the delegation other than maintaining maternal healthcare services at Leominster Hospital.

It has not been announced what changes this will bring to Montachusett Women’s Health, the obstetrics and gynecology office on the grounds of Leominster Hospital whose doctors and midwives deliver the babies.

Congressional quintet celebrate more than $20 million in federal funding for Massachusetts community projects

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U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, along with U.S. Reps. Lori Trahan, Jim McGovern and Richard Neal are touting successful efforts to secure federal funding for a number of community-based projects across the state in December’s end-of-year omnibus spending package.

In a press release, the lawmakers said they had secured over $20 million for 16 projects across the state, with more than $7 million directed toward projects in Fitchburg, Leominster and Gardner. Markey said the projects existed “at the forefront” of efforts to promote “health, environmental, and economic justice across our Commonwealth.”

“These projects will use federal dollars to add beds and improve systems at regional hospital campuses, promote educational resources and programming for immigrant communities, and enhance critical water infrastructure for our cities and towns in Central Massachusetts,” he said.

Funding in Fitchburg included $450,000 for HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital’s Fitchburg Campus to acquire and install a digital breast tomosynthesis that will expand access to life-saving screenings. Additionally, $2 million was dedicated to Fitchburg State University’s Theater Block Revitalization Project to build a learning laboratory and black box theater to strengthen the city’s cultural and educational infrastructure.

Community Health Connections was awarded $2.5 million. CHC is a federally qualified health center that has served the low-income, underinsured, uninsured, publicly housed and homeless populations of Fitchburg, Leominster and other nearby communities for more than 20 years. The funds will be used to establish an 8,000-square-foot facility to meet the growing need of mental and behavioral health services for children, including outpatient therapy services, psychiatry, in-school therapy, therapeutic case management, peer mentoring and parenting classes.

North Star of Leominster was awarded $1 million to develop 15 units of affordable housing, while an additional $1 million was awarded to the city of Gardner to replace a 141-year-old water transmission main line and maintain the public health and safety of residents.

Trahan celebrated the work of the quintet and said “delivering for our state and our communities” has always been her “top priority.” Warren stressed the importance of these projects to the region while McGovern and Neal said these projects “will [affect] real change” and “undoubtedly go a long way” in their respective communities.

“I’m proud of all that the Massachusetts delegation has achieved together in securing funding that will make the Commonwealth an even better place to call home,” Trahan said.

“Federal investments like these will help fortify our aging water infrastructure, provide critical resources for immigrants and veterans, and advance health equity across this region,” Warren said. “I’ll keep pushing to ensure the federal government is a strong partner to communities across the Commonwealth.”

“These projects will effect real change, like expanding patient bed access and making our health system more equitable,” McGovern said in the press release. “For me, public service has always been about listening to and helping people, and after working with so many community leaders to move these projects forward, I’m proud we are delivering results and I look forward to seeing the impact these investments have on the Second District.”

“The more than $20 million in federal funding secured for central Massachusetts will undoubtedly go a long way in making many of these long-awaited projects a reality,” Neal said. “Congress has the fundamental responsibility to oversee the expenditure of the public purse, and I firmly believe that these projects are worthwhile investments for the people of central Massachusetts.”

Leominster hospital locked down Thursday after threatening call to doctor

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LEOMINSTER — UMass Memorial HealthAlliance — Clinton Hospital, Leominster Campus entered a lockdown Thursday after a person threatened harm to one of the hospital’s doctors over the phone.

Leominster Police said they became aware of the threat around 1:45 p.m. As the hospital initiated its own safety protocols, police quickly locked down the building with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police and other local emergency departments.

The call was determined to have come from a landline outside of Massachusetts, according to the police. Following the determination, the hospital resumed normal operations. Despite the threat, no injuries occurred.

After the lockdown was lifted, Mayor Dean Mazzarella took to social media to say he was “very proud” of how first responders “handled the situation.”

Further information regarding the specifics of the threat, the caller’s location nor the doctor’s identity were given. An investigation is ongoing.

Multi-Disciplinary Clinic opens at UMass Memorial Health – HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital Leominster Campus

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LEOMINSTER — UMass Memorial Health – HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital celebrated the opening of a new Multi-Disciplinary Clinic on the Leominster Campus with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 20.

The clinic was designed to bring specific specialties to the Northern Worcester County region and allow local patients to access specialty care closer to home.

“During the hospital’s most recent community health needs assessment, transportation was identified as a significant barrier to care,” said Steve Roach, president of HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital. “The opening of this new clinic directly addresses barriers to accessing quality healthcare for many current and future patients that live in this region.”

A new Multi-Disciplinary Clinic on the Leominster Campus of UMass Memorial Health – HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital opened last month, offering a variety of specialties under one roof including cardiology, diabetes, endocrinology, infectious disease, neurosurgery, oncology, rheumatology, spine/anesthesiology, and thoracic surgery. (COURTESY UMASS MEMORIAL HEALTH)

Specialties all located under one roof include cardiology, diabetes, endocrinology, infectious disease, neurosurgery, oncology, rheumatology, spine/anesthesiology, and thoracic surgery.

“Patients from the North Central region that need access to specialty (care) have previously had to travel to Worcester and beyond to access care,” Roach said. “By investing over $3.6 million in an underutilized area of the hospital, UMass Memorial Health – HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital was able to construct a state-of-the-art facility that allows specialists, many of whom are Worcester-based, to provide those critical services locally.”

Roach said the new clinic was purposely located on the Leominster Campus “in order to leverage the federal 340B drug savings program to allow us to better serve vulnerable residents living in our local region by expanding access to world-class, chronic disease management services.”

He said the UMass Diabetes Center for Excellence has expanded to the Multi-Disciplinary Center and “under the auspices” of the UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Memorial the center “partners with multiple clinical and research teams to provide the best potential treatment(s) for people living with diabetes while also providing the best personalized care to help with all aspects of diabetes management.”

Endocrinologists Asem Ali and Prateek Shukla along with nurse practitioners Clare Foley, Brenden Howarth and Susan Kim “are now able to provide their expert diabetes services and care to current and future patients in North Worcester County,” Roach said.

They had to limit the ribbon-cutting event and facility tour to immediate staff and leadership, including UMass Memorial Health President and CEO Dr. Eric Dickson, due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“Congratulations to everyone responsible for the opening of the new Multi-Disciplinary Clinic designed to provide chronic disease management services close to where the people in this community live,” Dickson said. “The success of this effort depends on the commitment of our highly skilled specialists, many of which are Worcester-based, to come to the Leominster Campus to care for the people of this community. This kind of integrated care is the future of UMass Memorial Health and today marks an important first step for replicating this care model across our system.”

Roach said patients are already using the clinic.

“We look forward to showcasing this state-of-the-art space to the public in the future,” he said.