Boston-based Partners HealthCare has moved back its plans to phase out medical services in Lynn, Mass., according to a report from The Daily Item.
Partners had intended to close Union Hospital in Lynn and consolidate inpatient services at North Shore Medical Center Salem (Mass.) Hospital in 18 months. However, that timeline has been extended to now three years so the empty Salem-based Spaulding Hospital North Shore can be renovated to accommodate its plans, according to the report.
Kevin Ronningen, a spokesman for North Shore, told The Daily Item that the 18-month goal was "a shot in the dark," and that it was much more realistic to implement these changes in three years, when the old Spaulding facility was refurbished.
"We were going to do some temporary renovations (to Spaulding) to get it ready for inpatient care," Mr. Ronningen said, according to the report. "But we'd have had to renovate the same space all over again, and that would have ended up being far too costly. So now, we're just going to wait until it’s all done, and we estimate that will take three years."
As a result, he added, "Emergency, inpatient, surgical, geriatric mental health and pediatric mental healthcare will remain at Union until construction is complete."
It is unknown what exactly will happen at the Union campus once the transition is complete in several years.
However, Mr. Ronningen told The Daily Item that plans include working with the community, and work with the (city's) leadership "to decide what is best for the future use of the campus." He added, "We'd love to leave some services there, such as emergency and some of the physicians' offices."
The move to close Union Hospital has drawn opposition from local residents, as well as members of the SEIU Local 1199 union, who don't want the city to lose critical medical services However, Partners HealthCare and NSMC officials said the changes would improve care and coordination across a wide spectrum of health services.