Boston-based Partners HealthCare announced it will close its Union Hospital in Lynn, Mass., as part of a plan to consolidate services in the North Shore region and open a dedicated behavioral health center, according to The Boston Globe.
Here are nine things to know about the restructuring plan.
1. As part of the restructuring of the North Shore Medical Center arm of Partners HealthCare, inpatient services at the Union Hospital Campus will be consolidated at NSMC Salem (Mass.) Hospital over the next three years.
2. NSMC will build a new emergency department and two additional family-centered inpatient units at NSMC Salem Hospital.
3. The plan will cut about 100 jobs from Union Hospital, hospital executives said, according to The Boston Globe. They hope to reduce jobs through attrition, rather than layoffs, the report notes.
4. No date has been set for closing Union Hospital. However, hospital officials said NSMC will continue to operate the current emergency department on the Union Hospital Campus over the transition of the next several years.
5. The move to close Union Hospital has drawn opposition from local residents who don’t want the city to lose critical medical services, according to The Boston Globe. However, Partners HealthCare and NSMC officials said the changes would improve care and coordination across a wide spectrum of health services.
6. Partners HealthCare's move to close Union Hospital comes after the system backed out of a deal to acquire Weymouth, Mass.-based South Shore Hospital and put plans to acquire Melrose, Mass.-based Hallmark Health System on hold.
7. The closing still needs approval from the state Department of Public Health. According to The Boston Globe, a spokesman said the department will seek community input before it makes a decision.
8. Aside from the closure of Union Hospital, the Salem-based Spaulding Hospital North Shore, which is slated to close later this year, will be converted to a Center of Excellence in Behavioral Health with more than 100 beds. It will be directly aligned with Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital and add 40 to 50 new beds for psychiatry and behavioral health services.
9. Additionally, the restructuring calls for expanding community-based outpatient primary, specialty, urgent care and behavioral health services throughout North Shore Physicians Group offices, in collaboration with the Lynn (Mass.) Community Health Center and North Shore Community Health Center.
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