The Massachusetts Nurses Association is opposing the state Attorney General's decision not to penalize the leaders of the shuttered North Adams Regional Hospital for failing to provide adequate public notice of their plan to close the facility in 2014.
The union says the closure, with only a few days notice, proves there needs to be stronger protections to ensure access to health care services.
MNA says Massachusetts should pass a law safeguarding residents from what the union calls “mismanagement” that caused the hospital to close.
The AG’s office also weighed in on a $1 million endowment from the former hospital to Berkshire Health Systems, which reopened the North Adams emergency room under a court order in 2015. MNA says state law can’t ensure BHS will provide the necessary inpatient services the region lost.
A spokesperson for BHS was unavailable for comment Thursday, but told WAMC last week that longstanding patient and family advisory councils are in place throughout the county to help guide services.
