Brown Health Takes Over Steward-Linked Foxboro Clinics

BOSTON, Mass. (SHNS)–Two outpatient clinics in Foxborough that were expected to close last week have gained a new owner and remain open, marking the latest reshuffling of health care operations in Massachusetts amid the Steward bankruptcy saga.

Norwood Hospital Cancer Care Center at Foxboro and "Foxboro," two of four satellite facilities that were linked to the Norwood Hospital license that expired Nov. 5, are continuing to serve patients, Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein announced Wednesday.

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Steward Health Care revealed plans last month to abandon Norwood Hospital , which was being rebuilt after catastrophic flooding in 2020, and four affiliated outpatient clinics. Construction stalled on the hospital earlier this year.

But Goldstein said Morton Hospital in Taunton, a former Steward facility now operated by Brown University Health, has taken over the licenses of two clinics in Foxborough. The facilities have been renamed Brown University Health Cancer Institute in Foxborough and Brown University Healthcare Center in Foxborough, Goldstein said.

Goldstein, speaking during a Public Health Council meeting, did not discuss the status of the other two satellite clinics in Norwood, which are Norwood Performance Therapy and Guild Imaging Center of Norwood Hospital. As for the future of Norwood Hospital, Goldstein said a potential future operator would need to seek regulatory approval through the Department of Public Health.

In another post-Steward licensure change, Goldstein said Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, which is now owned by Boston Medical Center, was given a license to open and operate a geriatric psychiatric unit.

"The opening of these beds is important to help address the demand for this kind of care and to replace the beds that were lost when Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center closed," Goldstein said, referencing two Steward hospitals in Dorchester and Ayer that closed their doors this summer.

Working groups assessing the impact of the closures are continuing to meet as they aim to develop a report with recommendations about "community health needs," Goldstein said.

"So far these groups have been gathering data, engaging with communities and learning about specific gaps in health care services," the commissioner said. "Both groups expect to provide their reports to the governor early next year."