Health

Brockton Hospital to reopen next week, a year and a half after devastating fire

The hospital said there will be 100 beds starting next Tuesday, but the behavioral health, maternity, and pediatric units remain closed.

Medical staff walk away from an entrance to Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Brockton, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

By Molly Farrar

Brockton Hospital is set to reopen next week, Signature Healthcare announced Tuesday, a year and a half after a 10-alarm fire devastated the building and completely closed operations.

February marked the one year anniversary of the electrical fire, which was the largest in Brockton’s history. Earlier this year, the not-for-profit healthcare company Signature said in-patient services could return by late spring. In June, that targeted opening date was postponed due to failed HVAC units.

Now, Brockton Hospital will begin in-patient care starting next Tuesday, August 13. A spokesperson for Signature, which was founded as Brockton Hospital in 1896, said there will be 100 beds available on that date.

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Signature is working to have 216 beds, which is full operational capacity, open by the end of the year.

The new Brockton Hospital will feature an “updated” emergency room with a new 12-unit behavioral health triage unit, Signature announced. However, the hospital’s behavioral health unit remains closed, along with the maternity and pediatric units.

The spokesperson confirmed that the hospital’s maternity unit, including labor and delivery, will begin operations again next month, but there is “no further timeline” for when the pediatric and behavioral health units will reopen. However, the 216 bed count includes all three closed units.

The hospital will have a new outpatient surgical facility, a renovated main lobby, two new cardiac catheterization machines, and a new solar array to help power the hospital. 

“We’re going to come back bigger and stronger than we were before,” President and CEO of Signature Bob Haffey said in June. “Our commitment to stay in Massachusetts and stay profitable is a strong commitment.”

Brockton Hospital closure strained the region

Since the fire, the City of Brockton has been directing its residents to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, the only acute care hospitals with emergency services in the region. Both have had a major influx of patients.

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Good Samaritan is operated by Steward Healthcare, the troubled for-profit company that filed for bankruptcy in May. Steward just announced the closure of Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, which will result in more than a thousand layoffs.

To help fill the gaps in care, Signature opened local urgent care facilities and leased a space at a closed Compass Medical hospital in East Bridgewater. Compass Medical, a chain serving Quincy, Braintree, Easton, East Bridgewater, Middleborough, and Taunton, closed sudddenly in 2023.

With Steward’s future still uncertain, Brockton Hospital’s reopening could help ease the capacity issues plaguing many of the region’s hospitals.

“Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital has provided safe, quality healthcare to the community for the past 125 years, and we are dedicated to continuing this legacy for another 125 years and beyond,” Haffey said in a statement.