QUINCY - City residents had a message for Attorney General Martha Coakley and the state’s Department of Public Health: Save Quincy Medical Center and hold Steward Health Care System accountable. Critics of Steward’s plan to close the 124-year-old hospital at 114 Whitwell St. by Dec. 31 gave impassioned testimony Tuesday during a public hearing at Quincy High School. Some fear that the absence of a hospital in a city approaching 100,000 residents will result in tragedy for those in need of quick care. “I am begging you to please not close Quincy hospital or the emergency room, because people are going to die,” Christine Smith, a nurse in Quincy Medical’s emergency room, said. About 300 people filled the high school auditorium for the hearing, which was led by the Department of Public Health. Roughly 50 people provided testimony, including hospital workers, labor union leaders, local physicians, health care leaders, city and state officials, and representatives from Steward. The Department of Public Health will review the testimony and decide within the next 15 days whether the hospital can close. On Nov. 6, Steward, a for-profit company, announced it would close Quincy Medical after years of patient decline. The closure, which Steward says will happen by Dec. 31 despite state law requiring a 90-day notice, will eliminate 545 jobs. Several residents criticized Coakley for not attending the hearing. Her office is investigating the legality of Steward’s plan to close the hospital. When Steward bought the hospital in Bankruptcy Court in 2011, the company agreed to keep the hospital open at least seven years.  In a statement released Tuesday, Coakley, whose tenure as attorney general will end next month, said her office is listening to Steward’s claims that the 2011 contract is not in the best interests of the community. She said no decision on the contract has been made.  Steward, the second largest health care system in New England, contends that keeping the hospital open is not a sound economic decision, a stance that irks some residents. “People are more important than money,” city resident Christine LeBlanc said. Mayor Thomas Koch said the hospital’s closure “is like the loss of a family member.” At the start of the hearing, Dr. Mark Girard, president of Steward’s hospitals, outlined the company’s plans to expand urgent care and outpatient services at other medical offices in Quincy when the hospital closes. He said the company will also provide transportation to Carney Hospital or St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, both owned by Steward, for patients whose physicians at Quincy Medical are moving to those facilities. “We are committed to making the transition as easy as possible for our patients and for the employees while maintaining access to quality in-patient (care),” Girard said. Gale Martell, a 38-year hospital employee and a leader of the 1199SEIU workers union, came to Steward’s defense, saying the company gave the community much more notice than patients of North Adams Regional Hospital received in March. That hospital closed three days after notice was given. Several residents raised concerns about what will happen to the 15-acre hospital property once it closes. Will Smith, a member of the Hospital Hill Neighborhood Association, is worried the property will become a blight and attract crime such as vandalism. Other speakers lamented the state of the health care industry. Josh Archambault, director of health care policy for the Pioneer Institute, said health care reform at the state and federal levels is sinking certain hospitals. “Quincy Medical Center is just the tip of the iceberg,” Archambault said. State Rep. Ron Mariano, D-Quincy, said community hospitals like Quincy Medical Center, where many patients have public-payer insurance like Medicare or Medicaid, are doomed because their reimbursements are far less than those at hospitals with mostly privately-insured patients. As an example, Mariano said if Quincy Medical’s reimbursements in 2013 were the same as those at Partners Healthcare’s hospitals, like Massachusetts General Hospital, Quincy’s $20 million loss would have been a $12 million profit. 

QUINCY - City residents had a message for Attorney General Martha Coakley and the state’s Department of Public Health: Save Quincy Medical Center and hold Steward Health Care System accountable.

Critics of Steward’s plan to close the 124-year-old hospital at 114 Whitwell St. by Dec. 31 gave impassioned testimony Tuesday during a public hearing at Quincy High School. Some fear that the absence of a hospital in a city approaching 100,000 residents will result in tragedy for those in need of quick care.

“I am begging you to please not close Quincy hospital or the emergency room, because people are going to die,” Christine Smith, a nurse in Quincy Medical’s emergency room, said.

About 300 people filled the high school auditorium for the hearing, which was led by the Department of Public Health. Roughly 50 people provided testimony, including hospital workers, labor union leaders, local physicians, health care leaders, city and state officials, and representatives from Steward.

The Department of Public Health will review the testimony and decide within the next 15 days whether the hospital can close.

On Nov. 6, Steward, a for-profit company, announced it would close Quincy Medical after years of patient decline. The closure, which Steward says will happen by Dec. 31 despite state law requiring a 90-day notice, will eliminate 545 jobs.

Several residents criticized Coakley for not attending the hearing. Her office is investigating the legality of Steward’s plan to close the hospital. When Steward bought the hospital in Bankruptcy Court in 2011, the company agreed to keep the hospital open at least seven years. 

In a statement released Tuesday, Coakley, whose tenure as attorney general will end next month, said her office is listening to Steward’s claims that the 2011 contract is not in the best interests of the community. She said no decision on the contract has been made. 

Steward, the second largest health care system in New England, contends that keeping the hospital open is not a sound economic decision, a stance that irks some residents.

“People are more important than money,” city resident Christine LeBlanc said.

Mayor Thomas Koch said the hospital’s closure “is like the loss of a family member.”

At the start of the hearing, Dr. Mark Girard, president of Steward’s hospitals, outlined the company’s plans to expand urgent care and outpatient services at other medical offices in Quincy when the hospital closes. He said the company will also provide transportation to Carney Hospital or St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, both owned by Steward, for patients whose physicians at Quincy Medical are moving to those facilities.

“We are committed to making the transition as easy as possible for our patients and for the employees while maintaining access to quality in-patient (care),” Girard said.

Gale Martell, a 38-year hospital employee and a leader of the 1199SEIU workers union, came to Steward’s defense, saying the company gave the community much more notice than patients of North Adams Regional Hospital received in March. That hospital closed three days after notice was given.

Several residents raised concerns about what will happen to the 15-acre hospital property once it closes. Will Smith, a member of the Hospital Hill Neighborhood Association, is worried the property will become a blight and attract crime such as vandalism.

Other speakers lamented the state of the health care industry. Josh Archambault, director of health care policy for the Pioneer Institute, said health care reform at the state and federal levels is sinking certain hospitals.

“Quincy Medical Center is just the tip of the iceberg,” Archambault said.

State Rep. Ron Mariano, D-Quincy, said community hospitals like Quincy Medical Center, where many patients have public-payer insurance like Medicare or Medicaid, are doomed because their reimbursements are far less than those at hospitals with mostly privately-insured patients.

As an example, Mariano said if Quincy Medical’s reimbursements in 2013 were the same as those at Partners Healthcare’s hospitals, like Massachusetts General Hospital, Quincy’s $20 million loss would have been a $12 million profit.