BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

MASSENA -- At 11:59 p.m. on New Year’s Eve Massena Memorial Hospital shut down and St. Lawrence Health System began running the newly coined Massena Hospital at midnight New Year’s Day.

Employees and staff who changed employers may not have felt the impact in that brief moment, but CEO David Bender has indicated there are plans to modernize the hospital in the near future.

For some time though, the handover operations was the culmination of years of effort. The hospital, which was owned by the town until Jan. 1, will no longer be the main focus of the Massena Town Council and Town Supervisor Steve O’Shaugnessy.

For the town supervisor, closing the chapter was significant. He offered appreciation to various organizations who helped transition the hospital from public to private. For him the goal has been to keep the hospital running in Massena, without burdening taxpayers.

“I would like to thank the staff at Massena Memorial Hospital and St. Lawrence Health Systems who have worked tirelessly to reinvigorate our community hospital. I would also like to thank the NYS Department of Health for realizing the potential in our hospital and providing the funding for, among other things, invest in new infrastructure and equipment for Massena hospital.”

The Massena Memorial Hospital Board of Managers met for the last time in December.