Town pushing hospital hearing on Thursday

In the evening of Monday, Feb. 9 Town Manager Tony Mazzucco sent a letter out to Norwood residents on the Norwood Hospital Task Force mailing list urging action.

The letter comes as House Bill H.5047, “An Act authorizing the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance to take by eminent domain certain land in the Town of Norwood,” was scheduled for a hearing this Thursday, Feb. at 2 p.m. The bill was originally put forth by State Rep. John Rogers and State Sen. Michael Rush.

“I look forward to testifying alongside my colleagues in support of this vital legislation at the hearing. Thank you to everyone who continues to engage on this issue that matters deeply to our communities,” Rogers wrote announcing the hearing.

The bill itself – https://tinyurl.com/yc8acb8k – basically is giving the state the go-ahead to take Norwood Hospital by eminent domain. Eminent domain is the government's power to take private property for public use, provided that the owner receives just compensation; the laws in Massachusetts do require that when the eminent domain process is invoked, the property in question be compensated for a “fair price.”

While Good Samaritan in Brockton and St. Elizabeth’s in Brighton were both in similar straights two years ago when Steward fantastically imploded, when the deal was done the Boston Medical Center acquired both from Steward for $140 million. And those are working hospitals. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey invoked eminent domain at St. E’s because a part owner, Apollo Financial, had not agreed to the deal. When eminent domain was invoked, originally the state was looking to pay Apollo $4.5 million, but ended up paying $66 million – though Apollo sought $200 million for its stake in the property.

So the $350 million that Medical Properties Trust is holding out for may not be in the cards if the eminent domain legislation goes through for Norwood Hospital. For his part, Mazzucco did not appear to have that as his primary objective in his letter to residents:

“While the bill itself may or may not ultimately advance, this hearing comes at a particularly important moment,” he wrote. “Active negotiations are currently underway with a major healthcare provider concerning the future of the Norwood Hospital site. Even where legislation may face uncertain prospects, engagement and visibility matter – and can be influential in parallel discussion and negotiations.”

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Rogers himself said when the legislation was filed that it was designed to, at the very least, push MPT into selling the hospital. MPT put $350 million into the construction of the site, at least publicly, and has a portfolio of assets upwards of $14.9 billion in 338 facilities and announced in its last quarterly earnings report that it is increasing rents and “Following the successful re-tenanting of our California hospitals, we have increased confidence that pro rata annualized cash rent from our current portfolio will exceed $1 billion by the end of 2026.”

If you want to testify but are unable to attend in person, Mazzucco suggested submitting written testimony: https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/5550

Virtual and in-person testimony registration ended before The Norwood Record’s deadline.