Wellforce is the parent to Tufts Medical Center in Boston and Lowell (Mass.) General Hospital. The system formed in 2014 and recently recorded revenue of $1.4 billion.
Hallmark revealed plans to merge with Wellforce roughly six months ago. The system was previously operating under a plan to be acquired by Boston-based Partners HealthCare, but talks came to an end in December 2015 in face of opposition from state officials and antitrust experts.
As a result of the new affiliation, Hallmark is expected to refer more patients to Tufts instead of Partners’ Massachusetts General Hospital for specialty care, according to the Boston Globe. Hallmark’s 400-plus physicians in the system’s physician-hospital organization will join the New England Quality Care Alliance, which is Tufts’ network of community physicians and also part of Wellforce.
