Northampton, Massachusetts-based Cooley Dickinson Hospital, part of Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, is closing its South Deerfield, Mass.-based Sugarloaf Pediatrics practice and transitioning services to Amherst, Mass.-based Northampton Area Pediatrics, effective July 1.
The hospital has found it challenging to maintain a single pediatric practice due to staffing shortages felt across the healthcare industry, Lynnette Watkins, MD, president and COO of Cooley Dickinson Hospital, said in a March 6 news release.
The transition efforts are also part of a plan to enhance and expand patient access and introduce new services to the nearly 2,000 patients that Sugarloaf Pediatrics serves.
All Sugarloaf Pediatrics staff will be offered opportunities either elsewhere at the hospital or within the practice, the release said.
Mass General Brigham is a nonprofit, academic healthcare system that comprises 80,000 providers.