By Nevaeh Berenato, Special to the Reporter
Photo above: Carney Hospital nurses lobbied against the closure of the Dorchester hospital in July 2024. State House News Service photo
With the Carney Hospital now but a memory, health providers and city officials say Boston residents facing behavioral health crises are still feeling the loss of one of the neighborhood’s primary sources of psychiatric care.
For many patients in Dorchester and Mattapan, the nearest hospital with inpatient psychiatric services is much farther away following the August 2024 shutdown of the hospital as part of Steward’s bankruptcy collapse.
Dr. Bisola Ojikutu
Boston Public Health Commissioner Dr. Bisola Ojikutu said the closing has worsened longstanding weaknesses in the local behavioral health system.
“Much more work is needed to address the gaps in the local system of care and address the longstanding health inequities laid out in the Dorchester Health Planning Working Group report,” Ojikutu said of the filing last May in a statement to The Reporter.
A development team retained by the Carney site’s current owners to explore potential reuses of the campus have made it clear they intend to build-out a large health care facility as part of a larger plan that will include housing and other uses. It’s not yet clear, however, if behavioral health care, a strong component of the Carney’s mission, will be included in the mix.
“We are hearing that our community health center urgent care sites have continued to see an increased volume since the closure,” Ojikutu said. “We are also hearing that patients are arriving with more serious conditions, especially with behavioral health needs.”
Community feedback gathered by the Carney Working Group highlighted the level of concern. Canvassing conducted by the group found that 54 percent of residents said their top worry was losing access to nearby emergency room services. Another 20 percent said they were concerned about losing access to specialty medical services and professionals.
Michael Curry, CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and co-chair of the Working Group, said expanding behavioral health access was one of the group’s top recommendations to city and state leaders.
“We recommended expanding community behavioral health services serving that catchment area and providing urgent behavioral health services,” Curry said. “Not just standard or episodic behavioral services, but also emergency services.”
He also emphasized the growing push to integrate behavioral health services into primary care settings. “It’s a growing trend — and a necessary trend — to integrate behavioral health into primary care,” he said.
The Boston Public Health Commission has also pointed to efforts aimed at addressing disparities in care. One initiative, a partnership with the University of Massachusetts Boston called Transforming Boston Access to Mental Health, seeks to expand the behavioral health workforce with more culturally and linguistically diverse providers.
In the immediate aftermath of Carney’s closure, city officials encouraged residents to use the Mayor’s Health Line, a free service that helps patients find new care options. Boston residents can call the line at 617-534-5050.
Parts of Dorchester have long experienced high rates of substance use-related mortality. Between 2012 and 2022, several neighborhoods in the area posted the highest overdose death rates in Boston.
Recent state data offer mixed signals. The Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Addiction Services reports that the Greater Boston area saw a decline in substance-related emergency room visits in 2025 after years of steady increases.
Dorchester’s web of community health centers has worked to absorb some of the patients who once relied on Carney. At Codman Square Health Center on Washington Street, staff members say they are trying to expand access to behavioral health care as demand grows.
Dr. Guy Fish
“The Dorchester community has health needs like every community,” said Codman CEO Dr. Guy Fish. “And these health needs include behavioral health, which are actually more prevalent in some underserved communities — particularly Black and Brown communities and communities with fewer resources.”
Codman’s behavioral health counselor, Jeannie Baca, said about two-thirds of the center’s behavioral health patients now choose tele-health appointments. Staff expected a larger surge in patients after the hospital shut down. “What alarms me is that we haven’t been more flooded than usual,” she said.
That raises a troubling question for providers: If fewer people are showing up for care, where are they going instead?
For many health officials, the answer may lie in the same challenge the Carney closure exposed — a behavioral health system that was already stretched thin.
“Folks are best able to access their care when they can access it close to home,” Baca said. “Right now, nothing has fully stepped in to fill the void left by the closure of Carney.”
