Springfield, Mass.-based Baystate Health plans to close its outpatient center and satellite emergency care facility in Ware, Mass.
Services offered at the Baystate Mary Lane Outpatient Center will be moved to the nearby Baystate Wing Hospital in Palmer, Mass., over the next two years. The hospital in Palmer is about 9 miles away.
In June, Baystate will close the Mary Lane Satellite Emergency Facility, which provides 24-hour emergency care. It also will move cancer services to the D'Amour Center for Cancer Care in Springfield in June.
Other services, including rehabilitation, OB-GYN and pediatric care, will relocate to Baystate Wing Hospital.
The outpatient center will officially shut its doors by 2023.
In making its decision, Baystate said that the emergency facility saw about 28 patients per day and more than 85 percent of those patients present with nonurgent conditions that could be treated in a primary care setting. It also said it was difficult to recruit physicians to work at the facility.
"We carefully look at current needs and plan for the future to ensure that we deliver on our mission. The closure of Mary Lane Outpatient Center comes as we look to better meet the contemporary healthcare needs of communities across our region in a sustainable way," said Mark Keroack, CEO of Baystate. "Among the reasons for the closure is that, despite our significant investment in this location during the past several years, patients are choosing to receive care in other locations."
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