Lynn, Mass.-based Union Hospital, operated by Salem, Mass.-based North Shore Medical Center, shuttered its operating rooms May 10 as part of a phased closure, according to The Salem News.
Union Hospital is slated to permanently close in 2019, after a $207 million expansion at NSMC's Salem Hospital is completed.
The hospital's decision to close its surgical suite prematurely is because the services are no longer "clinically [and] financially feasible," according to a notice filed with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
A hospital spokesperson, Laura Fleming, told The Salem News that NSMC's Salem Hospital will be able to accommodate the patients who would otherwise be treated at Union Hospital.
"While this news accelerates our consolidation plans in this area, it does not affect the great care we continue to provide on both our Salem and Lynn campuses," Fleming said.
NSMC plans to close Union Hospital's intensive care unit in mid-July, and will discontinue outpatient cardiac stress testing in the near future.