Winchester Hospital Announces Plans to Affiliate with Lahey Health

Winchester Hospital and Lahey Health joining together to provide coordinated, community-based care  

WINCHESTER, MA - Winchester Hospital's Board of Directors announced today that it has voted to enter into a letter of intent to affiliate with Lahey Health. The new partnership will allow both organizations to adapt to the evolving healthcare landscape and to continue providing high-quality, cost-efficient, community-based care for the communities they serve in northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. 

"This is an exciting step forward," said Kevin Smith, president and CEO of Winchester Hospital. "Winchester Hospital and Lahey Health both have a strong commitment to providing the highest quality healthcare right here in our communities. We believe that by joining Lahey Health, Winchester Hospital will be better positioned to continue to fulfill its mission of serving the health needs of our patients. An affiliation with Lahey Health will make Winchester Hospital an even more effective partner in maintaining and improving the health of the communities we serve."

"Lahey Health and Winchester Hospital will make a great healthcare team," said Howard Grant, JD, MD, president and CEO of Lahey Health. "Two innovative organizations are aligning to create a comprehensive network of locally respected primary care physicians and nationally recognized specialists.  Together we will provide greater value to our patients where they live and work by enhancing the scope and quality of services."

In August 2012, Winchester Hospital formed an Affiliation Steering Committee made up of physician, hospital and board leaders and engaged in a thoughtful process to identify a long-term, strategic partner that would provide the best opportunity to create an exceptional healthcare system. The Board was also supported by its strategic and financial advisor Navigant Capital Advisors, and its outside legal counsel Mintz Levin.

Several hospitals and health systems participated in the extensive review process and ultimately Lahey Health was chosen as the preferred long-term strategic partner because of their clear and unwavering commitment to providing high-quality care locally and their track record of fiscal success and stability.

Under this affiliation the organizations will build a stronger system of care in key clinical program areas, including primary care, women's health, emergency medicine and cancer care.  Winchester Hospital patients will gain access to tertiary level services locally through Lahey Health while maintaining access to Winchester Hospital providers.

After completing the affiliation agreement, Winchester Hospital will join the Lahey Health Board of Trustees as part of a shared governance model. The Lahey Health Board of Trustees will consist of an equal number of representatives with full partnership from Winchester Hospital, the former Northeast Health System and Lahey Hospital & Medical Center Boards of Trustees. The organization will continue to be called Lahey Health, and Howard Grant, JD, MD, will remain as president and CEO.

Winchester Hospital provides comprehensive healthcare services in the northwest suburban Boston region. Winchester Hospital has 20 clinical locations in nine towns throughout northeastern Massachusetts. In addition to acute-care inpatient services, Winchester Hospital also provides an extensive range of outpatient services as well as integrated home care. 

In 2012, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center affiliated with Beverly Hospital, Addison Gilbert Hospital and other Northeast Health System entities to form Lahey Health, a health system that provides a full continuum of integrated health services. Lahey Health includes Lahey Clinic
Physician Group with practices in Burlington, Peabody and other locations throughout northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire; Lahey Health Senior Care and Lahey Health Behavioral Services as well as more than 30 primary care physician practices and multiple outpatient and satellite specialty care facilities.

About Winchester Hospital
As the leading provider of comprehensive health care services in the northwest suburban Boston area, the 229-bed facility provides care in general, bariatric and vascular surgery, orthopedics, pediatrics, cardiology, pulmonary medicine, oncology, gastroenterology, rehabilitation, radiation oncology, pain management, obstetrics/gynecology and a Level IIB Special Care Nursery. Winchester Hospital has clinical affiliations with several nationally recognized hospitals, including Boston Children's Hospital, Tufts Medical Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Winchester Hospital is the first hospital in Massachusetts to earn Magnet recognition, the American Nurses Association's highest honor for nursing excellence, three times. Additionally, Winchester Hospital has been recognized consistently as a top employer in Massachusetts and for its outstanding patient experience. For 11 consecutive years, Winchester Hospital was named to the Boston Business Journal's Best Places to Work, and for the past five years, the Boston Globe has placed Winchester Hospital on its top employer list. HealthGrades, for five years in a row, has awarded Winchester Hospital the Outstanding Patient Experience Award, which ranks Winchester Hospital among the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide. To learn more about Winchester Hospital, visit www.winchesterhospital.org.