Over the past year, 18 primary care providers have moved from Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham to Cambridge, Mass.-based Beth Israel Lahey Health, reflecting a longstanding battle for market share between the state’s two largest healthcare institutions.
In November 2024, nine primary care physicians left a practice at Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital, part of Mass General Brigham, to join a new practice at Beth Israel Lahey Health. Combined, the nine physicians cared for around 13,000 patients annually. Since then, several more primary care clinicians have left MBG to join Beth Israel, according to a Nov. 24 report from The Boston Globe.
Most recently, six physicians and a nurse practitioner at an MGB practice in Medford, Mass., shared plans to leave that practice and join a Beth Israel practice in the same area in January. Those clinicians cared for around 8,000 patients annually, according to the Globe.
In a statement, Beth Israel Lahey Health confirmed several new clinicians will be joining an expanded location in Medford.
“Our Beth Israel Lahey Health Primary Care – Medford Family Care practice is moving to a new expanded location early in 2026,” the statement said. “Additionally, the same high-quality team at that practice is excited to be joined by several new providers in the new year as part of this transition. BILH has a goal to deliver 70 percent of the care we provide in the community over 10 years, and we will continue to invest in primary care as we work towards that goal.”
In light of the latest clinician exits, MGB said it plans to close the Medford location and consolidate with an existing practice on the same street.
“While this represents a small number of our total PCPs across the system, we recognize the inconvenience this may cause our patients, and are committed to supporting our patients and staff through this transition,” the health system said in a statement to Becker’s.
“We have reached out to all impacted patients about their care options, which include remaining with their current care providers in their new location, a virtual PCP experience through MGB, or transitioning to another MGB location.”
MGB said it employs around 650 primary care providers across the system, including 114 who have been hired since 2023. Beth Israel employs around 475 primary care providers, according to an April system blog post.
Paul Levy, former CEO at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said the physician departures will cost MGB millions in lost revenue as specialists previously seen at the system likely move to Beth Israel — a claim MGB said is inaccurate.
“We value primary care because of the importance for our patients and their healthcare maintenance, not our overall financial impact,” the system said in a statement. “Right now, our priority is making sure patients impacted by this closure are connected to the right option for them and supporting our hard-working clinicians.”
In late May, primary care physicians at Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s hospitals voted overwhelmingly to unionize, citing concerns over pay and benefits and high caseloads.
MGB has since committed $400 million over five years to strengthen primary care, aiming to address staffing shortages, burnout and access gaps. The investment includes new AI tools to assist with documentation, expanded use of virtual care and the creation of a C-suite role to lead primary care strategy and clinical operations. Earlier this month, MGB said it had selected Kim DeRoche, MD, to serve as inaugural primary care chief.
The primary care shake-up marks another front in the intensifying competition between the two health systems. In 2023, Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ended its long-standing affiliation with MGB and partnered with Beth Israel on a $1.7 billion inpatient cancer hospital. In response, MGB committed $400 million to launch the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, also in Boston, set to open in 2028, signaling the formal end of its partnership with Dana-Farber.
