Framingham Union Hospital has been in the red for 36 months. Why the finances are bleak

FRAMINGHAM — For the first time in more than a year, executives from MetroWest Medical Center appeared before the City Council to discuss the state of Framingham Union Hospital, painting a bleak picture of the hospital's current state and of Massachusetts health care in general.

“The hospital has been in the red for 36 months straight,” MetroWest Medical Center CEO John Whitlock told the council Tuesday during a public hearing. “The hospital is grateful for our parent company, Tenet Healthcare, because if we were here alone we would not have the cash infusions to make payroll on our own.”

Over several years, the hospital has shrunk considerably in the amount of services it has offered, due to its strained finances and limited staffing. In some cases, staffing issues led to ambulances being diverted from the hospital.

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The hospital was reacquired by Tenet Healthcare Corp., a public company based in Dallas, in 2013. At various points since then, MetroWest Medical Center has endured criticism from the public for diminished services, as well as from employees who say it pays less than other nearby hospitals.

Carolyn Jackson, CEO of Tenet’s Massachusetts Market (the company also owns St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester), said Tuesday that issues surrounding the cost of health care are impacting hospitals throughout the state, including those that are not private, for-profit hospitals such as MetroWest Medical Center.

“The current health care landscape in Massachusetts is challenged, especially for community hospitals and regardless of the corporate structure of the system,” Jackson said. “Economic shortfalls, labor shortages and supply chain costs are impacting hospitals and doctors alike. In our state alone, UMass Memorial Hospital (in Worcester) recently closed its labor and delivery unit at Leominster Hospital. After prolonged difficulties, Heywood Hospital (in Gardner) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.”

Whitlock said closing certain services at MetroWest Medical Center was necessary to keep more critical services afloat.

“The closure of certain services, like our aquatic therapy unit, which was serving nine patients at the time, are necessary," he told city councilors. "They will continue to happen, regardless of the hoopla that the press and others may create about it, because we are dedicated to infusing resources to support more critical and life-saving services."

Tenet executives express frustration with public criticism

Whitlock and Jackson each told the council that criticism directed at the hospital is not productive, and has damaged its reputation.

“The constant criticism in a very difficult environment hurts the hospital, and ultimately hurts the caregivers,” Whitlock said.

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“We need positive energy from the council, we need to stop negative stories about things that create sensationalism,” Jackson said.

At-large City Councilor Janet Leombruno said that while the hospital has been subject to criticism, the City Council is only reporting what it is hearing directly from residents who are in critical need of the local hospital.

“We are hearing what people from the community are coming to us and saying," Leombruno said. "We are hearing directly from people who are going in and seeing the wait times — and I understand after COVID the whole system has been shaken up — but we really need this hospital to stay open and to thrive, because it is worth saving. Some of our folks here have no option to go to another hospital, we have a lot of vulnerable people here that need the hospital to be opened and staffed. There is a lot of criticism, but it is warranted. The nurses that live here, they want to stay here.”

Framingham Union prepping for nurse's union negotiations

Earlier this month, nurses at the Framingham Union Hospital campus of MetroWest Medical Center voted to unionize, joining the Massachusetts Nurses Association. Whitlock told councilors that hospital executives hope that negotiations between the union and hospital are in “good faith.”

District 4 City Councilor Michael Cannon noted that labor negotiations between Tenet and nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester broke down into a contentious strike that lasted nearly a year.

“Any thriving community needs a thriving hospital," he said. "Share with us whatever you can, as candidly as you can, about the investments you are making. I hear the words, but I’m also cognizant of how the negotiations unfolded in Worcester and I think that would be disastrous for Framingham, and I’ll say candidly, that won’t be acceptable here.”

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Katie Murphy, a Framingham resident who is also president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said she hopes Tenet will expedite negotiations with the newly unionized nurses, and that as a resident, it's critically important that Framingham Union keeps its maternity ward fully operational.

"We want Tenet to go to the table and expedite this as quickly as possible," she said. "There was overwhelming support for the union in their vote. I think it's very important that Tenet make a commitment to keeping maternity services at Framingham Union. You couldn't look at the media without seeing stories on the rate of infant mortality, especially in communities of color, and we are very lucky to be living in such a diverse community."

Melissa Holdren, a cardiac nurse at Framingham Union, said she can easily see inefficiencies at the hospital that are preventing adequate care.

"I've been a nurse for five and half years — prior to that, I worked in operations management for two decades," she said. "I know what I'm looking at when I stand in that hospital, I see operational inefficiencies that fall to the nursing staff to make up for critical services, and those inefficiencies are part of what prevents our ability to drive patients through the hospital to accept more admissions. We have an entire floor of the hospital that is closed."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham hospital's financial challenges explained by executives