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Broad bipartisan testimony urges Legislature to authorize taking of Norwood Hospital property
Summary
Sponsors and a large group of municipal leaders, first responders, nurses and business representatives urged H5047 to give the Commonwealth authority to acquire the partially rebuilt Norwood Hospital site by eminent domain to restore regional inpatient capacity and reduce long ambulance runs to distant hospitals.
Representative John Rogers, Senator Mike Rush and Congressman Steve Lynch told the committee H5047 is needed to restore health-care capacity after Norwood Hospital closed following a 2020 flood and a subsequent bankruptcy. Rogers framed the closure as a regional medical-access crisis affecting more than a half-million residents in the service area; Lynch said the site is 25% built and that eminent domain would allow the Commonwealth to acquire the property, commission an independent appraisal and transfer it to a nonprofit operator.
Multiple municipal leaders and first responders gave unified testimony in favor of the bill. Amanda Growe, chair of the Norwood Board of Selectmen, urged the committee to consider climate resilience and the Commonwealths role in restoring critical infrastructure. Tom ORourke, the Chamber president, and Tony Mazzuco, chair of the Norwood Hospital Task Force, described economic and emergency-services impacts and said the shell remains sealed and ready for a fit-out by a new operator.
Healthcare witnesses cited patient-safety and EMS concerns. Mike Conners (retired hospital CFO) and Tom Henderson (EMS director for the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts) testified that ambulance transport times have increased and that boarding is more widespread across the region; Conners said stroke and other time-sensitive care have been affected. Julie Pinkham (former Massachusetts Nurses Association executive director) highlighted a statewide pattern of community hospital closures and urged that inpatient beds be restored.
Several witnesses and sponsors urged that eminent-domain authority is a contingency measure, not a request for direct state operating funds: Tony Mazzuco told the committee the town is not seeking state money but the legal authority to assure transfer to a qualified operator, and that an operator would pay acquisition costs and complete construction.
Committee members asked about costs, the buildings condition and ongoing private negotiations. Witnesses said the shell was properly sealed, significant stormwater and shell work had been completed, parking garage construction is finished, and that the interior fit-out remains. Congressman Lynch and other sponsors said an independent appraisal and established eminent-domain processes would set fair value and that time is on the taxpayers side if the owner delays.
No committee vote was recorded at the hearing. Chair Cabral urged submission of written testimony and said the committee plans to move quickly on bills heard that day.
