A group of healthcare providers, business and community leaders has formed a coalition to oppose parts of Mass General Brigham's $2 billion expansion.
The group, Coalition to Protect Community Care, wants Mass General Brigham's plans to be reviewed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, according to an April 28 report published in MetroWest Daily News. The coalition, which includes UMass Memorial Health in Worcester and physician organization Highland Healthcare Associates IPA, said new ambulatory services in three communities outside of Boston — Westborough, Woburn and Westwood — may be duplicative and raise equity and cost concerns.
Outside of the coalition, UMass Memorial has already expressed its opposition to the expansion, arguing it would threaten the sustainability of its hospitals and medical school in Worcester. However, Mass General Brigham has said its plans to consolidate mental and physical care in one outpatient center would help lower costs and improve access for its 42,000 patients within a 20-mile radius of the proposed site.
Altogether, the three ambulatory care sites are part of a $400 million ambulatory expansion that Mass General Brigham announced in December 2019, according to the MetroWest Daily News. That $400 million expansion is in addition to a $1 billion building at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and a $250 million addition to Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, also in Boston.
Becker's Hospital Review reached out to Mass General Brigham for comment, but did not hear back before publication. This article will be updated if more information becomes available.