Families and staff fight back against plan to close Massachusetts rehab hospital for children
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey's administration is moving to close a state-run hospital in Canton to cut costs. Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children is home to dozens of kids with special needs.
Families and staff say they were never consulted about the relocation plan and are fighting back. They say what happens at Pappas is pure magic.
Nurse Maureen Arnstein has been working at the hospital for 17 years. "They make progress, and you see it and you celebrate it," Arnstein said.
More than a rehabilitation hospital
Built more than a century ago to aid disabled children and young adults, Pappas is a more than a rehabilitation hospital. It has a school with real classrooms, a handicapped accessible pool and therapies like horseback riding, all designed to help kids like Billy Alish gain independence.
Billy's mom Alma says he wouldn't be where he is now if he was living at home. "He is able to express himself, he can talk, and socially he has friends," Alma Alish said.
Born with cerebral palsy Billy can't walk but that does not stop him from achieving his goals including writing a book. At 11 he accomplished the goal, publishing a book about his dad who passed away.
He dictated the book using speech therapy. Since then, Billy has learned to use his eyes to control his computer. With the help of a device, Billy can read, listen to music, surf the web and do what most kids do online.
Despite success stories like Billy's, last month as part of budget cuts, Governor Healey put Pappas on the chopping block, claiming closing it will save millions. "I think of it as a redirecting of services of care," Healey said.
But that is not how families and staff see it. Arnstein says she feels betrayed. "To think they're just a budget issue will never sit well with me," Arnstein said. "They're more than a line on a budget. They are human beings that just do things in a different way."
Teachers and nurses tell the I-Team they were blindsided. They had no idea the Healey administration was planning on relocating the kids to a hospital in the western part of the state, far from their doctors at Children's Hospital and their caregivers who will not be moving with them.
Angry, they are now banding together. Kathryn Reynolds a long-time teacher at the school.
"There are humans behind those numbers. There's people and they're people that deserved to be loved and appreciated and accepted and to have a place that is theirs, not a place they can be put in as an afterthought," Reynolds said. "Pappas was again built for them."
Governor reconsidering immediate closure
Their passion is catching the attention of political leaders who announced the governor was reconsidering closing the hospital. Congressman Stephen Lynch said he spoke to Gov. Healey and that, "perhaps an immediate closure is not warranted," Lynch said. "So that is good news in the very short term."
But it is the long-term families are worried about, vowing to continue the fight to save Pappas. "The people who are making the decision to get rid of this, I don't think they know what they're talking about," Alma Alish said. "Who are you to make the decision? don't you think we should decide on this as a community?"
On Wednesday Senate and House leaders said they were caught off guard by the plans and pledged to scrutinize the proposal.
The I-Team reached out to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. In a statement a spokesperson said, "Our administration appreciates the feedback we've received from patients, families, employees, labor and elected officials. We all share the same goal of ensuring high-quality, modernized and specialized care for the young people we serve, as well as supporting our hardworking employees. We look forward to continued collaboration on the path forward to provide the best setting for these children."
