Leaders at Partners HealthCare are considering changing the Boston-based health system's name. In a letter to The Boston Globe, a physician who works at one of Partners' hospitals said he is appalled by the potential cost of the rebranding efforts.
Health system leaders are considering changing Partners' name to better reflect its well-known hospital brands, such as Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Rebranding costs could exceed $100 million, according to The Boston Globe.
Some Partners officials say it's important for the system's name to better reflect its academic medical centers, while others question whether a rebranding would be worth the cost. Michael Reich, MD, a physician at Partners' North Shore Medical Center in Salem, Mass., raised concerns about the cost of the rebranding in a letter to The Boston Globe.
Dr. Reich said he's "appalled at the notion of spending $100 million to change a name," and that the rebranding efforts won't matter to patients at his hospital.
"Among those we serve and care for are many people who have limited education, and changing the name from Partners to … who-knows-what will not make any difference to them," he wrote.
Patient care, not rebranding, should be Partners' top priority, according to Dr. Reich.
"We do not need to change a name, Partners, which is basic and fundamental. To spend $100 million in this way would be wasteful and would border on sinful," he wrote.
Access the letter Dr. Reich sent to The Boston Globe here.
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