Union Hospital in Lynn, Mass., will close its emergency department in November and open an urgent care center in the space. The hospital will close in 2020.
Boston-based Partners HealthCare, Union Hospital's parent company, announced in 2015 that it would close the hospital and consolidate some services in the area. Union Hospital's ED will close Nov. 3, the same day a new ED will open roughly five miles away at Salem (Mass.) Hospital. Both hospitals are part of Partners' North Shore Medical Center.
Partners will open an urgent care center Nov. 4 in the space previously occupied by the Union Hospital ED. Though the hospital will not have an ED or provide inpatient care, other services will continue to be offered on the campus, including behavioral health, imaging services and primary and specialty care.
In the Spring of 2020, Partners will shut down Union Hospital and open a new building on the campus, which will house North Shore Physicians Group, Partners Urgent Care as well as radiology, outpatient behavioral health, infusion and lab services.
Regarding the planned closure, North Shore Medical Center sent the following statement to CBS Boston earlier this year: "North Shore Medical Center is significantly expanding not only in emergency care but also in behavioral health and other services in order to provide a healthcare facility better tailored to today's patients and their needs. These expansions, coupled with robust contingency options for peak periods, will ensure that patients in all of our communities continue to have access to high-quality care well into the future."
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