Baystate Health: Have Mercy? Yes, please! (still via YouTube/Trinity Health of New England)

When high COVID gripped Springfield, Mayor Domenic Sarno began holding weekly briefings. There were usually at least two guests every week. Dr. Mark Keroack, President & CEO of Baystate Health and Dr. Robert Roose, chief medical officer at Mercy Medical Center, were regulars. They offered a medical perspective on the crisis that was honest, local and reflective of the different institutions they served.

The crisis also, in their words, provided an opportunity to collaborate and share resources. As the shroud of the coronavirus began to lift, they took turns appearing at the weekly pressers. One did not quite represent the other at each tradeoff. Little would anybody know then that their successors—or perhaps successor—could conceivably be in a position to do so.

On April 28, Baystate and Mercy’s owner, Trinity Health of New England, announced that Baystate would buy Mercy Medical Center. Barring regulatory hurdles, the transition will take effect on November 1.

“This is an investment in both the past and the future of health care and economic development in western Massachusetts,” Baystate President & CEO Peter Banko, Keroack’s successor, said in a statement. “Today, access forces too many patients to leave the region to seek care, and we need to ensure that care is compassionate, high quality, affordable, and local.”

Banko went on to cast the decision as ensuring a “pillar of the community” like Mercy endured.

The purchase would not only put both of Springfield’s medical centers under the same management. It would also cement Baystate’s primacy as medical provider in the region. Baystate Health owns hospitals in Greenfield, Palmer and Westfield. Holyoke Medical Center and Cooley Dickinson Hospital are the Pioneer Valley’s only non-Baystate hospitals.

Both Springfield hospitals serve poorer populations as evidenced by both facilities’ reliance on Medicaid revenue. However, Mercy, a Catholic hospital, had a history of catering to the needy. Health systems nationwide face cuts as the federal government slashed Medicaid spending to finance Donald Trump’s tax cut bill.

OG Baystate Health in Springfield. (via Wikipedia)

Springfield Congressman Richard Neal noted the connection in his statement welcoming the transaction.

“As the country continues to grapple with unprecedented health care cuts resulting from President Trump’s One Big, Ugly Law, this acquisition will expand access to health care and improve services throughout the Pioneer Valley and beyond,” he said.

“Together, these institutions represent more than three centuries of service to western and central Massachusetts,” Neal continued. “Ensuring their viability and continued success is vital to the health of our families and our local economies, and this announcement represents a critical step in strengthening our regional health care system for generations to come.”

The idea that Mercy may not be long for this world was not an abstract fear. Governor Maura Healey’s administration had already navigated the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care. Steward had operated several Catholic hospitals in Eastern Massachusetts. All but two—three if you count a hospital Steward had closed before the bankruptcy—found buyers and remain open. Western Mass itself saw the closure of North Adams’s hospital in 2014. (Berkshire Health System reopened it in 2024.) Baystate closed Mary Lane Hospital in Ware in 2023.

Some question whether Springfield can economically support more than one hospital in the city proper. However, few doubt an abrupt closure of Mercy would be catastrophic.

Healey not eager for a Steward repeat. (WMP&I)

“Mercy Medical Center is a crucial fixture for the Springfield region, serving tens of thousands of patients each year and supporting hundreds of jobs,” Healey said in a statement. “It’s why our administration worked so hard to make sure it would stay open. It is great news that Baystate will be acquiring them, which will protect access to high-quality health care and jobs in Western Massachusetts.”

A spokesperson for the governor said the priority was keeping Mercy open, securing access to care in Western Mass and protecting jobs. Further details will become clear during the transition and the transaction will face review from the Health Policy Commission.

What will happen to jobs looms large. Mercy had faced accusations that it had allowed staffing to dwindle in some departments like its birthing center. A webpage Trinity Health posted stated that no job cuts from the transaction are imminent. However, it left open the possibility of job losses after Mercy formally becomes Baystate Mercy.

Nurses at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield are not in a union, but the Massachusetts Nurses Association represents Mercy’s nurses. That may not change with this sale. Baystate inherited union shops at other hospitals it took over.

A spokesperson for the MNA, Joe Markman, underscored that Baystate and government leaders must see to it that “all services at Mercy are maintained or expanded to ensure patients continue to receive the care they need” should the transition proceed. The union took a dim view of the secretive nature of the negotiation, though. It urged the state to oversee the coming steps carefully.

“It is incumbent on the Healey Administration to incorporate all stakeholders into the change of ownership process, to set clear and accountable parameters, and to implement a robust scrutiny and enforcement mechanism to ensure the continued operation of this safety net hospital.

The union committed to working with those affected to ensure care quality and access are preserved. However, the MNA also observed that the sale comes as Baystate’s Board of Trustees expresses confidence about the system’s financial standing.

“MNA nurses across the region urge Baystate executives to translate that financial progress into meaningful investments in nurses and safe patient care,” Markman continued. “Baystate must settle a fair MNA contract with Baystate Franklin Medical Center nurses and respect nurses at MNA-represented Noble Hospital.”

Healey’s spokesperson indicated that it had been involved in conversations about Mercy for 15 months. The administration worked with the parties to reach a conclusion, in part at Banko’s urging.

The Republican had reported last summer that Baystate was in the hunt for Mercy.

Drs. Roose and Keroack in September 2020—unintentionally premonatory? (WMP&I)

According to the Trinity Health, the network will continue to operate Brighton for Children & Families, Mercy LIFE (a senior care program), Beavan Kelley Home and St. Luke’s Home. Other facilities, primary care, and centers will transition to Baystate if Baystate and Trinity Health finalize the transaction.

Baystate has streamlined its structure in recent years, although how it will administer Mercy remains to be seen. The announcement appeared to coincide with a shakeup of Trinity Health.

Montez Carter, the president of Trinity Health of New England, will leave the organization in July. He was quoted in Baystate and Trinity Health’s joint statement. Dr. Roose, formerly of Mercy, became the interim head of St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. Trinity Health had elevated him in 2025 to oversee area community hospitals including two in Connecticut and Mercy.

Regardless, a future public health situation in Springfield would likely differ from the pandemic six years ago, beyond Keroack and Roose’s departures. Rather than two physician-leaders from the city’s hospitals, perhaps only one would be on hand from the beginning.