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Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Determination of Need Projects: Long Term Care Determination of Need (DON) is a regulatory process managed by the Department of Public Health that assesses the necessity and appropriateness of a proposed project or service based on community needs and existing resources. It aims to control costs, ...

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Closure date listed 2025

• Phillips Manor Nursing Home - February 25, 2025

2024

• Highview of Northampton - December 6, 2024
• Marion Manor, South Boston - September 11, 2024
• Bridgewater Nursing & Rehab, Bridgewater - May 24, 2024
• Savoy Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, ...
  
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by Richard Moore, April 1, 2025 The coalition to modernize the state’s Open Meeting Law by requiring hybrid (in-person and virtual) public meeting met with Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) this week to thank her for leadership in extending the current hybrid meeting law and to urge her to support ...

By Alex Green From the moment he became superintendent of the nation’s oldest public school for intellectually and developmentally disabled children in 1887 until his death in 1924, Dr. Walter E. Fernald led a wholesale transformation of our understanding of disabilities in ways that continue to influence our views today ...

HHS’s Transformation to Make America Healthy Again U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 27, 2025 The restructuring of HHS is proceeding in accordance with President Trump's Executive Order, "Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative.” Over the past four years, during the Biden administration, ...

Private equity firms consolidating homes for disabled *Washington Post, March 18, 2025
By Peter Whoriskey Summary:
Private equity firms are increasingly acquiring companies that care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, traditionally a nonprofit sector, according to a report by the Private Equity Stakeholders Project. The report warns that this trend ...

Nursing home funds used on designer suits, lingerie, spa service, complaint alleges Boston 25 News, March 6, 2025
By Ted Daniel A former Boston nursing home boss and two of his employees have been accused of embezzling $3 million dollars, according to a newly filed lawsuit in Suffolk County Superior Court ...

We have shared reports on Highview Nursing Home in Northhampton before. While we were pleased to see the closure of Highview of Northampton, one of the lowest-rated nursing facilities in Massachusetts, at the end of 2024, we raised concerns about the closure process. We were particularly concerned that many residents ...

The following letter to Senator Warren (pdf) was sent by Dignity Alliance MA on March 12, 2025. Dear Senator Warren, We want to thank you for your continued efforts in protecting seniors, individuals with disabilities, and the dedicated workforce serving them, whose conditions are directly impacted by the decisions of ...

February 6, 2025 The Healey-Driscoll Administration today released the initial results of Massachusetts’ first comprehensive statewide housing plan to increase housing production, meet the unique needs of communities and lower costs across the state. “A Home for Everyone: A Comprehensive Housing Plan for Massachusetts” was developed in consultation with the ...

February 25, 2025 Legislators and aids, advocates and DignityMA members attended an overview of the Dignity Dozen + 1 bills. The education on the bills was to encourage legislators to sign onto the bills. The latest news and information on the bills is on our Advocacy -> State Legislative Endorsements ...

February 20, 2025: On behalf of Dignity Alliance Massachusetts participants, I submit these comments in support of the state's request that CMS waive all estate recovery requirements for all CommonHealth members in MassHealth's 1115 Demonstration.  Currently, many people who need the coverage and care offered under CommonHealth are afraid to ...

February 20, 2025: The following letter has been sent to the entire MA congressional delegation. Download the Opposition to Safety Net Cuts letter (pdf) to see the entire letter, with signatories (DignityMA included). "As Massachusetts state-wide and community-based organizations that serve low-income residents of the Commonwealth, we wish to thank ...

Thank you to the American Association of People with Disabilities for this article. Since taking office, President Trump has taken several actions attacking diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (often called "DEIA" or "DEI") in the federal government. AAPD has put together this resource to provide an overview of what DEIA is, why ...

What Lies Ahead For Medicaid In Budget Reconciliation?
Health Affairs
By Sara Rosenbaum and Alison Barkoff
February 11, 2025 President Trump recently stated, “We will love and cherish” Medicaid, promising that budget cutting would be limited to finding waste and abuse. But that sentiment is not likely to prevail as Congress moves forward ...

Your Parents Deserve More From Their Nursing Home
New York Times
By Norma B. Coe and Rachel M. Werner
February 7, 2025 Dr. Coe is the director of research and Dr. Werner is the executive director at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. For anyone who lives ...

By James A. Lomastro, PhD
January 2025 The emergence of Dignity Alliance Massachusetts (DignityMA) represents a significant evolution in the concept of honest brokers within healthcare systems.  While traditional honest brokers typically strive for complete neutrality in mediating conflicts, DignityMA has pioneered a new approach that combines advocacy with intermediary functions, ...

April 16, 2025 : Boston Globe Update ‘I am trying my hardest to stay out of a nursing home.’ Mass. curtails lifeline helping elders remain independent. (pdf) by Kay Lazar. Cases of frail older adults in dire situations are mounting, advocates say. "Bockser is among a growing list of frail ...

Dignity Alliance Massachusetts selected Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell as its “Champion of Dignity and Care” for 2024. The award was presented on January 29, 2025. Left to right: Clarence Richardson, David Gullette, Paul Lanzikos, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Richard Moore, John Ford, Wynn Gerhard, Margaret Morganroth Gullette. Members of ...

Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA)
Nursing facilities serve an important role in the continuum of health care services in Massachusetts, providing nearly 12 million patient days of service in 2023. To better understand this component of the Massachusetts health care system, CHIA's new dashboard, released in January 2025, ...