Staff at Pappas Rehab Hospital in Canton claim state is failing to keep promise to pause closing

CBS News

4 hours ago

The I-Team has been following the proposed closure of the state-run Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children in Canton, Massachusetts for months. The hospital serves kids with special needs. After the I-Team's initial investigation, Governor Healey put the closing plans on hold, but staff and families say they are seeing signs the hospital's days may be numbered.
Nurses and teachers took to the streets protesting what they claim is the state's failure to keep its promise to pause the closing of Pappas Hospital. Denise MacKinnon is a nurse at the hospital and says she's upset about what she sees happening.
"There's never been a pause"
"There's never been a pause," MacKinnon told the I-Team. "They continue to discharge patients to other facilities or to home. Now they are sending the younger children out. They are getting rid of every single patient."
The state-run facility is home to severely disabled children and young adults. Staff say with all the programs and specially designed therapies, the kids thrive. Which makes the possibility of shutting it down devastating for the families who need it. Ann MacDonald is a former patient who says for the kids who live there, leaving Pappas would be akin to making them homeless. Calling it unacceptable for the children who have no voice.
In January, Governor Healey decided to close Pappas to save money. Calling it a redirecting of services of care.
Staff says discharges continue
But after a public outcry and an I-Team report, Healey reversed course and agreed to reconsider closing Pappas. Still, staff say, despite what the governor said, it appears the state is still going forward with the closing. "We haven't seen a long-term admission since before the closure was announced in January," said Kim Daley, a teacher at Pappas. "And discharges continue at a very fast pace."
In a statement Pappas Chief Medical Officer Dr. Khelda Jabbar told the I-Team:
"While the relocation and expansion of Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children into Western Massachusetts Hospital is paused, both facilities continue to operate, which includes admitting, discharging, and relocating patients when clinically appropriate, as decided by the admission committee and the multidisciplinary team, respectively. These functions are part of daily facility operations. At Pappas, from the time a patient enters, the team works to find an appropriate placement for the child to live in the community once the course of inpatient treatment is complete. This community placement work is unrelated to the pause or future of the facility."
Political support
Keeping Pappas open has the backing of political leaders, concerned that there is not a plan or a comparable facility where these kids would have the same opportunities to grow and become independent. Staff members say they believe the Department of Health wants to shut down Pappas. They hope their allies in the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives will protect and fund the hospital.
The Department of Health says in 2025, Pappas did not admit any new long-term care patients, but did provide temporary respite care to more than a dozen whose caregivers needed a break. It also discharged nine residents.
Last month, the House and Senate included language in the proposed Fiscal 26 budget to fully fund Pappas.