Norwood prepping to take Norwood Hospital

The Norwood Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday for a relatively short meeting involving the Norwood Hospital, the Town Hall, and the Board’s own Bill Plasko.

Norwood Town Manager Tony Mazzucco updated the Board on what can currently happen with Norwood Hospital. In January, State Rep. John Rogers and State Sen. Michael Rush introduced legislation that would allow the state to take the property from Medical Properties Trust (MPT) – https://gvimes.link/hospital

Mazzucco said the Town is prepping for the eventuality that the Town may have to take the property to find an operator. MPT has not come to a deal since it took the property from its distressed and imploding tenant, the controversial Steward Health Care, and since then, it has been, at least publicly, trying to offload or rent out the hospital under the same model that did so well for Steward (Steward sold its land in 2016 and never really recovered).

Mazzucco said the issue isn’t a lack of interest from potential buyers, but that the regulatory and purchase hurdles make purchasing the site for a potential operator difficult, at least in the private market. He said a potential operator can’t know what they would want to pay for the site without knowing what they can do with the site; the state won’t tell them what they can do with the site until they own or control it; and MPT won’t sell for a “reasonable” price to allow any of that to happen.

Rogers announced recently that the eminent domain legislation has entered committee, and Mazzucco said if it gets approved by June (the end of the legislative cycle), it opens a host of options for the partially-built hospital for the state taking the property and shifting the ownership to another entity. That would mean that a more reasonable price for a potential buyer could be found, but Massachusetts eminent domain law requires that the government entity doing the taking pay a “fair price” for the property, but historically that’s been much lower than its assumed value.

However, Mazzucco said he is looking to be prepared if that legislation fails, so the Town could move swiftly to try to take the property.

“We may looking at Town Meeting for us to prepare to undertake the taking process ourselves,” Mazzucco said. “We’ve been looking into it for quite a while and invested some resources into getting ready to do that. The state doing that would be the best case scenario for everyone, but we need to start the process of actually using the firm we’ve engaged to finalize a cost and find out what the process is. Because if the state doesn’t pass the legislation by June, we’re going to want to start down that path ourselves. Which will require, as everything does, money. That will possibly be on the special Town Meeting warrant.”

Mazzucco said the money wouldn’t be spent immediately, just appropriated so it’s there if needed. He said the Town has two methods of taking the property. The first is basically naming a price, which is then usually challenged in court by the owner, and the Town and MPT would someday settle out of court.

He said the second process would be to enlist the court to calculate a value up front that it would accept, and then the Town could weigh whether it was worth it or not.

In other news, Mazzucco said the broken elevator at Town Hall is so broken that the Town may be entitled to some compensation from the original installer. The elevator has some serious shaft issues and won’t be back up for a good while, which means that Board meetings and a lot of Town business must be brought down to the first floor for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.

“At some point, once we know what the problem is, we may look into whether or not the installer, who put it in six years ago, made any critical mistakes and if there is an option for us to recover any costs from them,” he said. “There is a shaft that runs under the elevator that is apparently bent, and they’re not sure if that was caused by poor installation, a material failure, or some other issue.”

Mazzucco said they will rely on the current vendor and insurance to determine if there were installation issues, but he said sometimes a specific issue just isn’t found.

“Sometimes things just break and you can’t identify what causes it,” he said. “But for such a critical system failure six years into the elevator, it’s pretty substantial.”

Mazzucco said the price estimates are at $100,000 to $150,000. He said they are also looking to see if the Town’s insurance will pay for the repair.

“We are still waiting to see whether or not insurance is going to pay for it,” he said.

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Lastly, but certainly not least, this was Acting Selectmen Chair Bill Plasko’s last meeting after half a century of service to the Town of Norwood and 30 years to the Board of Selectmen specifically. The Selectmen said their goodbyes.

“I don’t think there’s going to be anyone like you,” said Selectman Matt Lane. “And I’m really grateful that we’ve been able to spend so much time together and have become a friend, and I’m really grateful for your wife, who has allowed you to go to so many meetings. Cathy is a saint, but you knew that already. It’s not goodbye, just goodbye to Tuesday nights. Although you’re more than welcome anytime.”

“There’s nothing we can’t get done,” said Selectman Michael Saad. “You’ve been a mentor for three years and I thank you. We’re not going to let you go.”

Selectman Bob Donnelly also read a letter of proclamation honoring Plasko’s contributions to the Town, detailing all the years he served.

“Thank you for your service to the Board, and the opportunity to serve with you,” said erstwhile Selectmen Chair Amanda Grow. “One thing I always appreciated about you is not only your care for the community, but also your attention to detail in matters that come before the Board or matters in our purview. No matter how much I would concentrate and say, ‘Ok, what am I missing? What would Bill find?’ Even if I thought I got it all, you’d still find something I missed.”

“Mr. Plasko’s efforts have significantly benefited the Town and its residents, and his legacy is one of steadfast devotion and exemplary responsibility,” Donnelly said. “In witness whereof, I set my hand and cause the seal of Norwood, Massachusetts, to be affixed, this March 24, 2026, signed Amanda R. Grow, Chair, Board of Selectmen. Congratulations Mr. Plasko.”

“That kind of sums it up,” Plasko said with a laugh. “It’s been like a rollercoaster, at times it’s been really rough, up and down, throw you all around, but I’ve enjoyed it immensely. I would like to thank the voters for having trust and confidence all these years. I’ve been elected to the Board 11 times and the Finance Commission and Town Moderator, and to have that kind of support all these years is really touching and I appreciate it. I was going to give a little lecture, but instead of that, I’ll simply say, ‘Good night, and good luck.’”