AG Hasn't Ruled Out Legal Action To Prevent Closure Of Quincy Medical Center

Attorney General Martha Coakley's office hasn't ruled out court action to prevent Quincy Medical Center from shutting down.

Steward Health Care, the hospital's parent company, announced this month that it would close the 124-year-old facility at the end of the year. The hospital has since moved the closing back to Feb. 4.

Bob Ross, head of the attorney general's business and labor bureau, said Tuesday in a letter to a Steward lawyer that the closing could violate an agreement the company signed when it purchased the hospital in 2011 to keep it open for at least 10 years.

Ross said officials were willing to discuss Steward's claim that the agreement should be altered.

Steward has said the hospital, with nearly 700 employees, is losing $20 million a year in the face of increased regional competition.