THE closure of two Massachusetts hospitals today will “create hospital deserts and exacerbate health inequities in the communities they serve,” health workers’ union 1199SEIU has warned.

Nashoba Valley Medical Centre in Ayer and Carney Hospital in Boston are closing their doors despite a campaign by staff and patients to keep them open, with workers blaming corporate greed by Dallas-based company Steward Health Care. Over 1,200 staff are affected.

Steward founder and chief executive Ralph de la Torre faces lawsuits linked to the firm’s collapse, with accusations that he extracted more than $100 million (£76m) ahead of filing for bankruptcy in May.

The company had earlier cashed in by selling its hospitals for $1.2 billion (£910m) and then leasing them back, supposedly an “asset-light” arrangement aimed at prioritising patient care but which now looks suspicious.

Aya Healthcare, a health workers’ agency, claims that Steward siphoned off cash to shareholders while falling behind with bills, including $45m (£34m) for staffing services.

The crisis draws attention to the fragility of US healthcare provision, which relies on private health companies.

Outrage has spread among politicians, with Senator Ed Markey charging that “Steward Health Care ... intentionally purchased safety-net hospitals that communities rely on and ran them into the ground in their efforts to extract maximum profits.”

But in meetings with state officials hoping to avert the closures, workers were told by Massachusetts Department of Public Health commissioner Robbie Goldstein that his department “does not have the ability, nor the authority, to prevent or deny closure of this hospital.”