Council opens hearing on $82 million Marlboro Hospital expansion

MARLBOROUGH -- May 5, 2025, Marlborough City Council opens hearing on Marlboro Hospital's $82 million expansion plan. UMass Memorial attorney Brian Falk and Chief Operating Officer John Kelly presented a $36 million, 8,000-square-foot emergency department expansion doubling treatment rooms from 13 to 27, a $6 million multidisciplinary clinic, and a $40 million proton therapy center that would be New England's second. Kelly said ED visits have climbed from 22,000 to nearly 30,000 a year and patients are routinely treated in hallways: "It's not a great environment." At-Large Councilor Kathleen Robey recused; no opposition spoke. The council also received Mayor Vigeant's $215,302,846 FY26 budget, a 9.91 percent jump, referring it to Finance with a May 19 hearing, and approved a $4,187,233 transfer to the health care trust fund and $450,000 in state earmarks, including $75,000 for temporary speed humps over Ward 1 Councilor Mark Vital's lone "no."