Lowell (Mass.) Treatment Center, a 41-bed psychiatric hospital owned by Pembroke, Mass.-based Arbor Health System that has a history of citations for patient safety lapses, will permanently close Friday, reports The Boston Globe.
Here are five things to know.
1. The hospital stopped admitting patients Tuesday and will close permanently Friday. All patients in the facility will be transferred to other hospitals. Any patients who attended outpatient therapy programs will also need to find a new option.
2. Shawn Daugherty, LTC's executive director, said the decision to close was made after a careful review of several factors, including the availability of inpatient beds in Massachusetts and the expense of modernizing the hospital.
3. However, the decision to close comes just after the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership, which oversees mental health benefits for state Medicaid enrollees, terminated its contract with the Lowell facility over "quality concerns," a state spokesperson told The Boston Globe.
4. LTC has a history of citations. Between December 2016 and April 2017, at least three employees were injured by patients at the facility. As a result, the treatment center had to pay a fine. Additionally, during the same time period, CMS threatened to revoke the facility's Medicare contract after an investigation found the facility was out-of-compliance with federal standards. Further, in September 2017, the state mental health department suspended all admissions to LTC due to serious safety concerns and improper cleanliness.
5. This is the second hospital owned by Arbour Health System to shutter in six months. In August, the Massachusetts Department of Health ordered the health system's Westwood (Mass.) Lodge to close, citing patient safety lapses.