How Massachusetts Failed to Regulate Steward Health Care

The call to Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre from the state’s top health official came days after a veteran nurse at Steward’s Good Samaritan Medical Center was fired for a devastating mistake — one that a federal investigation later found was considered a violation of basic care. .

On September 13, 2023, a triage nurse in the overloaded emergency department at Brockton Hospital received a request for assistance from a patient in the registration line. Jennifer Knight, 37, suffered acute chest pain and shortness of breath and thought she was having a heart attack.

But ten hours into her non-stop shift, with too few nurses to handle a surge of patients, the nurse sent Knight back to the line, without According to investigators, they are evaluating her or checking her vital signs. Knight collapsed and died just 20 minutes later.