Brockton Hospital fire update: closure extended into 2024

The electrical fire that has kept Brockton Hospital shuttered since February will likely continue to impact operations into 2024, sending all inpatient care to surrounding communities.

The hospital has been working feverishly to reopen since a Feb. 7 electrical fire forced the evacuation of 176 patients and completely destroyedtwo of three electrical panels for the building.

A third electrical panel, which was damaged in the fire, has been repaired. That, along with temporary and backup emergency power, will allow the hospital to open limited services in one section of the building this month.

All other parts of the hospital need to be rewired, and supply chain delays have hampered the arrival of all the necessary equipment.

“We anticipate that these arrivals of equipment and supplies will take place into 2024,” said Lorraine McGrath, a spokeswoman for Signature Healthcare, Brockton Hospital’s parent company.

The hospital initially said it would reopen limited inpatient services as early as May. The delay puts further pressure on nearby community hospitals that have had to accommodate the volume.

South Shore Hospital said its emergency department volume was up 20 percent in spring of 2023 compared to the same period last year. The hospital was admitting 8 to 10 percent more patients a day as well. Brockton Hospital had its own obstetric unit, and the closure has pushed South Shore’s labor and delivery volume up 15 percent since February, from 280 deliveries to 320 a month.

“It’s all showing how precarious our health care system is, when you see one hospital close,” said Dr. Allen Smith, president and CEO of South Shore Health. “People are adapting, but it’s causing strain.”

The Brockton closure has compounded the effects of other closures, including that of Norwood Hospital, which has been closed since 2020 due to catastrophic flooding.

Despite the pressures, Brockton has worked to open, or keep open, a variety of urgent care and outpatient services to respond to community demand.

McGrath said hospital executives had determined that 30 to 40 percent of the emergency department volume could be accommodated in an urgent care setting, and the hospital quickly built and opened two new urgent care centers. One, on the hospital campus, is open around the clock.

Any outpatient service that could move out of the hospital was moved into one of the health system’s 17 other locations in the southeast part of the state.

Wound and infusion services will open this month inside the hospital, though in a different location than before, given the electrical repairs. By late summer or early fall, the organization expects to be offering outpatient procedures in the building.

Meanwhile over 400 of the organization’s staff were initially deployed to 13 area health care facilities, and many remain in those jobs. Others have stayed at Signature caring for outpatients. Some surgeons have been credentialed at other facilities and are performing surgeries on their patients.

Approximately 300 people were let go.

“We’re trying to get staff back as we’re reopening services,” McGrath said, offering hope that those laid off eventually would be rehired.

As work progresses on the repairs stemming from the electrical fire, crews have been working on other planned projects that no longer need to be arranged around patient care. The hospital installed a solar array in the hospital’s parking lots, and is fast tracking the building of an ambulatory surgery center.

Previously planned upgrades to the emergency department have also been performed, including the construction of 12 private behavioral health observation and triage rooms.

But much of the work is happening inside the hospital’s ceilings and walls, and when patients return the facility will largely look as it once did.

Today, upward of 75 electricians are working in the building. When the necessary supplies and equipment arrive, the hospital expects to double the personnel if needed and have people work in shifts 24/7.

“We’re doing everything in our power to get up and running ASAP,” McGrath said.

Jessica Bartlett can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @ByJessBartlett.