![]() Tufts Children's and Lawrence General formed a clinical affiliation in 2010. So rather than traveling into Boston for medical appointments, you and your family can stay right where you are, and still receive the advanced care provided by an Academic Medical Center. That’s why Tufts Children's Hospital at Tufts Medical Center has teamed with Lawrence General Hospital to bring world-class pediatric care right to your doorstep in the Merrimack Valley community. Juana Matias, a former state representative from Lawrence who now serves on the hospital board, called on state officials to do more.We know that you would never settle for anything less than the best when it comes to your child’s health. They’ve already provided tens of millions of dollars in support to the hospital, “in addition working with them on their longer term fiscal situation,” said Brooke Karanovich, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. State health officials on Tuesday did not indicate whether they would send more aid to Lawrence General. The number of COVID-19 patients surged again after the winter holidays. Residents who became seriously ill ended up at Lawrence General, where at one point last spring, more than 100 of the hospital’s 186 beds were filled with COVID-19 patients. Since the start of the pandemic, 1 in 4 Lawrence residents - or 20,000 people - have been infected with COVID-19. About 21 percent of the city’s residents live in poverty, according to US Census data. Lawrence, where people of color make up 85 percent of the population, has been especially hard hit by COVID-19. Last week, S&P Global Ratings noted Lawrence General’s “highly vulnerable” financial situation and downgraded its credit rating to B- from B. The hospital and its affiliated doctors network lost $19 million on operations, on revenue of about $300 million in the fiscal year that ended Sept. These challenges, hospital officials said, are in addition to a longstanding concern: that the state doesn’t reimburse them enough for providing care to patients on MassHealth. And while COVID-19 hospitalizations have fallen, Lawrence General still is not seeing the number of regular patients it saw before the pandemic. The hospital spent more on supplies, including personal protective equipment, during the pandemic. The hospital received $44 million from the federal government and $17 million from the state last year - but that has not been enough, Wilson said. But Lawrence General hasn’t qualified for a payment since last summer. Hospitals in the state received more than $2 billion in aid through the federal CARES Act in 2020, and more funding this year. “This is going to impact services this community desperately needs, like maternity and pediatrics and the things that it’s hard for me to imagine that we wouldn’t have here at Lawrence General,” Wilson said. ![]() ![]() (The hospital has bond financing from MassDevelopment.) Otherwise, Wilson said, it will have to slash more spending to remain in compliance with bondholders. The hospital is seeking an infusion of government aid: $10 million from federal officials and $25 million from the state. “We were weak going into COVID, and now we’re weaker coming out of COVID,” Wilson said. ![]()
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