The wasteland known as Mass and Cass can’t be allowed to fester like a perpetual sore in the middle of the city forever.

The Long Island bridge reconstruction project remains the best solution, but that is years away. So it is time for bold action.

Lawmakers have just passed an idea pushed by Hub state Sen. Nick Collins to study the practicality of bringing back a floating hospital in the Harbor. Addicts could be put on the ship to be treated and businesses could get back to work and not be forced to deal with the unsanitary conditions along the Methadone Mile.

The FY24 budget entry states: “Not less than $50,000 shall be expended for a study
to be conducted by the Department of Mental Health, in consultation with the naval construction and marine engineering program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on the feasibility of converting a decommissioned ship or other water-based vessel into a floating hospital for mental health, substance use treatment and recovery services; and provided further, that not later than February 15, 2024, the department shall submit a report to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the House and Senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on mental health, substance use and recovery and the joint committee on veterans and federal affairs.”

If the Mass & Cass regulars could be plucked off the street and put on a hospital ship to be treated in time for next summer, that would be a major step in the right direction.

But what this expenditure really proves is action speaks louder than words. The city has been trying to clean up the area yet it has become the drug-addled destination of choice for the region’s opiate addicted. Police have done sweeps; the DA has targeted the offenders but former Gov. Charlie Baker and now Gov. Maura Healey should push for even more solutions.

We’ve reached the point when Mass & Cass must be fixed.

Researchers at MIT have already studied the possibility of turning a decommissioned cruise ship into affordable housing units. A February 2023 report found converting a cruise ship “is feasible, and offers crucial advantages over comparable land-based approaches.”

“The elimination of new construction, the existing habitable arrangements, and the availability of large-volume spaces for amenities suggest a compelling candidate to creatively address the affordable housing shortage besetting scores of cities and millions of citizens across the country,” the MIT report said before recommending more analysis on the idea.

The Floating Hospital for Children — which would later become Tufts Children’s Hospital — was a medical sailing ship in Boston Harbor where children could seek out treatment. A 1920s fire eventually moved facilities onshore.

This proves that the status quo along Mass and Cass does not need to be the norm. Yes, people are struggling but solutions are all around.