Heywood Hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Gardner, MA.
Co-CEO Tom Sullivan said: “Though our health system has stood the test of time, we are not impervious to financial challenges.”
A proposed merger with UMass Memorial Health was called off in January.
Heywood Hospital dates to 1907, built with money donated by Martha Heywood, the widow of Gardner furniture manufacturer Henry Heywood. He was president of the Heywood-Wakefield Co. He had long envisioned a hospital for Gardner, bothered that injured workers would have to travel to Boston for top care. Henry Heywood Memorial Hospital, as it was called for many years, initially had 20 beds.
The bankruptcy filing was made with a focus towards long-term viability, The Gardner News reports.
Win Brown, who had served as CEO for a decade, was ousted in June, and replaced by co-CEOs Tom Sullivan and Rozanna Penney.
Also that month, the surgical pavilion construction was halted. Earlier that month, the stabbing of an ER nurse by a patient forced the hospital to implement strict new security procedures. Read more.
