Dive Brief:
- Partners Healthcare plans to close Union Hospital and consolidate North Shore medical services over the next three years. Partners expects the consolidation to save up to $18 million a year.
- Under the $200-million plan, nearby Salem Hospital will expand with 58 more beds and a renovated ED along with 50 additional beds in their psychiatric unit.
- Lynn residents oppose the closing, and the mayor said in a statement that the city of 90,000 needs a full-service hospital. The hospital closing still requires approval from the state Department of Public Health.
Dive Insight:
Union Hospital has been struggling to attract patients and, therefore, specialty care. "You need a certain critical mass to support specialty care," said Robert G. Norton, president of North Shore Medical Center. "The ability to consolidate the two campuses ensures patients get that best level of subspecialty care."
The two hospitals combined lost more than $20 million last year, which Norton attributed to insufficient Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. About 60% of North Shore's patient base is on one of the two government programs.
Union Hospital will reduce inpatient medical services over the next three years and the consolidation will eliminate about 100 jobs, primarily through attrition rather than layoffs. The Lynn ER will remain open for at least three years, as will a 16-physician medical practice that Partners says will add physicians, something that David E. Williams, president of Health Business Group in Boston, says is a major concession to the community—EDs are expensive to operate.