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.