Lawmakers weighing the future of Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children heard passionate testimony at a public hearing this week, with most speakers urging the state to preserve the facility for children with multiple disabilities.
Michelle Sweeney, a physical therapy supervisor who has worked at Pappas for nearly 30 years, is a leading voice in fighting against the hospital’s closure. Sweeney sits on the special legislative commission formed to discuss the future of Pappas.
“While current patients continue to be discharged, there are virtually no admissions happening at Pappas,” she said. “This is not because there is no need. Across Massachusetts, there remain children and families who could benefit from the unique combination of rehabilitation, educational, clinical, and residential services that Pappas provides.”
In January 2025, Gov. Maura Healey announced plans to close the hospital, which is in an aging and costly facility, and move the services offered there to the campus of Western Massachusetts Hospital in Westfield. But the governor reversed her decision until further review amid an uproar from families and public officials.
Since then, staff and families have feared that the facility is winding down regardless. Union leaders testified that many staff have been told that the hospital is shutting down.
There are also far fewer admissions: Pappas is caring for 21 people as of March, down from 35 last January, according to a recent report.
Lawmakers sit on a Special Legislative Commission that has until the end of the year to recommend whether to close it down. The commission is co-chaired by state Rep. Marjorie Decker of Cambridge and state Sen. William Driscoll of Milton.
Driscoll said no decision about any closure will be made until after the commission issues a report. This week was the first public hearing of the special legislative panel to discuss the merits of keeping Pappas Hospital in Canton open.
The hospital, founded in 1904, provides educational and support services to children and young adults ages 7 to 22 with multiple disabilities.
Nicole Friel, who has a 22-year-old daughter at Pappas who is aging out of the program, testified that the Canton facility should remain open and that it’s made a major difference in her daughter’s life.
“Small things — like the engineering department being able to create a stable chair so she doesn’t rock herself over — has made a big difference,” Friel said. “Her little fingers used to get caught up in the wheels of her wheelchair, and they put guards on the wheelchair. None of that has ever been done before.”
Other speakers, including representatives for hospital unions, said they fear closure is a foregone conclusion.
“Despite the full funding in the FY ’27 budget, strong legislative support and broad backing from families in the community, time is running out,” said Katie Murphy, president of Massachusetts Nurses Association.
“Pappas is dying, slowly but surely, right under our noses,” said Jim Durkin, legislative and political director of AFSCME Council 93. He urged commissioners to take a straw poll to determine how many members want to see “the unique world-class services that used to be provided at Pappas resume.”
Durkin alleged the Department of Public Health has allowed the comprehensive health care and educational services at Pappas to “wither away.”
Dr. Robbie Goldstein, commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, endorsed keeping Pappas open while the state legislative panel studies the best path forward, but stopped short of committing to anything long-term.
“We fully support keeping Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital open and stable while this commission conducts its vital work,” Goldstein told the commission panel members.
DPH oversees Pappas, and in the past, the department has highlighted the need for a more focused, modernized care model to serve the growing needs of children in Massachusetts with the most complex medical needs, many of whom require specialized services, such as mechanical ventilation.
“The governor’s budget fully funded continued operations of Pappas,” Goldstein told the commission. “That means we’re continuing admissions and appropriate discharges, backfilling staff positions as needed, avoiding layoffs, avoiding service reductions as the process to —design the best future and the right future for caring for medically complex children in the state proceeds.”
But Goldstein added that this is a chance to look at the bigger picture of how the state, the legislature, and families want to look ahead to the future.
“I think right now we have an opportunity to do something that is more than just figure out the future of Pappas in Canton. We have an opportunity to think big, to be bold, and to make the decisions that will benefit all children across Massachusetts who have complex medical medical and behavioral health needs,” Goldstein said.
Goldstein said more than 12,000 children in Massachusetts have complex medical needs. Many of those children are stuck on inpatient floors in acute hospital settings and emergency departments, he said.
“They are stuck waiting for post-acute care that is more specialized than what is currently available at either Pappas or in the commonwealth’s two pediatric skilled nursing facilities,” he said.
Julie Beckham. member of the Canton Select Board, voiced strong support
for the preservation, funding, and modernization of the Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children.
“To understand where we are today, we only have to look back to 2019 and a documentary made in 2019, narrated by (actor) Alan Alda, [that] shows Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children’s campus defined by milestone achievements, purpose, and community,” she said. “It was a thriving, thriving specialized ecosystem where healthcare and education met to give medically fragile children a genuine pathway toward independence.”
Beckham questioned whether the state is being up front with its plans for Pappas.
“While the state claims plans to close Pappas are on hold, the reality on the ground shows a de facto closure,” she said. “Medically challenged children with complex medical needs are waiting in acute care emergency rooms — because the state is restricting access to the many open beds at Pappas. We cannot justify justify making these incredible strides for other vulnerable groups while allowing the state to quietly sunset services for the most medically fragile children in our commonwealth.”
Canton state Rep. Bill Galvin said Pappas, which sits on 160 acres in the town he represents, said Pappas should stay open. He echoed what many other speakers highlighted about Pappas and said it is a unique place for kids with disabilities.
“It has almost like a college atmosphere grounds for these kids. The staff at Pappas is excellent, and can’t be repeated or duplicated anywhere,” he said. “[Children] get the care they need, they get the freedom of a campus setting, they can wheel or walk all over the grounds. They have horseback riding.”
Pappas Hospital has been funded at least until the commission files its final report at the end of the year.
