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Merger Conditions Show AGH Concern Heard Loud and Clear

March 23, 2012

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GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA

The final approval granted by the state's Public Health Council on Wednesday does not, on the surface, extend any assurance that Addison Gilbert Hospital will continue to provide its current services beyond the end of 2015.

Yet, by conditions handed the newly forming Lahey Health Systems - the essential merger of AGH's parent Northeast Health System and The Lahey Clinic - the state's decisive panel has at least ensured a three-year guarantee of level services at Addison Gilbert. And the addition of other provisions should indeed give Cape Ann residents all the assurance they could have expected in a deal that pulls together two of the dominant nonprofit health care corporations that serve patients across the North Shore.

The approval - expected to lead to a completion of the "affiliation" by May 1, Lahey official said - also calls for the new corporation to "undertake a comprehensive community health needs assessment" over the next three years to evaluate how Lahey Health Systems will go forward. The council approval also mandates that the corporation issue a one-year advance notice of any new plans regarding services after the three-year time frame.

That should indeed give the Cape Ann community a means of addressing any potential changes before they are implemented. Residents should take heart from a subtle message driven home by both the emerging corporations and the state board: that the concerns and fears of local residents and officials were heard loud and clear.

Lahey President Dr. Howard Grant said the affiliation should allow the newly formed nonprofit to invest in its community hospitals - and we hope that's the case. At the same time, Grant is right to note that Cape Ann residents can make the greatest case for preserving AGH's services by simply using them. That use will show up in the mandated comprehensive assessment, and make the greatest pro-AGH case of all.

In the end, however, Cape Ann's health care consumers can feel confident they got the best guarantee any health care agency could reasonably offer in today's health care landscape. That's as good as it gets.

Awards & Recognition

100 TOP HOSPITALS

Beverly Hospital and Addison Gilbert Hospital Among Truven Health Analytics 2015 Top 100 Hospitals

THE LEAPFROG GROUP'S HOSPITAL SAFETY SCORE

Since the onset of the Hospital Safety Score in Spring 2012, the publicly available data showed Beverly Hospital and Addision Gilbert Hospital have consistently exceeded the standards of other medical institutions in terms of patient safety procedures in place, earning them both a Straight A’s distinction.

Our Boston Area Locations

Public Announcement Concerning a Proposed Health Care Project

Lahey Health System, Inc., located at 41 Mall Road, Burlington, MA 01805 (the parent of Lahey Clinic Hospital, Inc., 41 Mall Road, Burlington, MA 01805, Northeast Hospital Corp., 85 Herrick Street, Beverly, MA 01915, and Winchester Hospital, 41 Highland Avenue, Winchester, MA 01890), CareGroup, Inc., located at 109 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 (the parent of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc., 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 (which in turn includes Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton, Inc., 199 Reedsdale Road, Milton, MA 02186, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital – Needham, Inc., 148 Chestnut Street, Needham, MA 02492, and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital – Plymouth, Inc., 275 Sandwich Street, Plymouth, MA 02360), New England Baptist Hospital, 125 Parker Hill Road, Boston, MA 02120, and Mount Auburn Hospital, 330 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138), and Seacoast Regional Health Systems, Inc., located at 25 Highland Avenue, Newburyport, MA 01950 (the parent of Anna Jaques Hospital, 25 Highland Avenue, Newburyport, MA 01950) (collectively the "Applicant"), intend to file an Application for Determination of Need ("Application") relative to a proposed affiliation involving the Applicant (the "Project"). The Applicant is submitting its Application as it intends to affiliate to create a new comprehensive, distributed, high quality and high-value non-profit healthcare delivery system to serve patients throughout Eastern Massachusetts. To facilitate the level of economic and clinical integration required to better manage the health of a broad population and meaningfully impact care delivery in the state, the Project would establish a new parent company that will function as the sole corporate member of each hospital, and will also include the participation of the organizations’ accountable care organizations. The Total Value of the Project is estimated to be approximately $5,323,154,000. There is not expected to be any anticipated price or service impacts on the Applicant’s existing Patient Panel. Any ten Taxpayers of Massachusetts may register in connection with the intended Application or amendment by no later than October 16, 2017, by contacting the Department of Public Health Determination of Need Program, 250 Washington Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02108.

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