Beverly, Addison Gilbert Hospitals See 15 Percent Increase in Admissions since Formation of Lahey Health System
Successful Partnership Leads to Improved Credit Ratings for Community Hospitals in Four Years
BEVERLY, MA – Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, along with Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospitals, are marking the fourth anniversary of the formation of Lahey Health System. Since joining together with Lahey Clinic in May 2012 to form Lahey Health System, Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospitals have seen a 15 percent increase in admissions. The increased volume to the two hospitals comes at a time where those affiliated with other large systems in the northeast region experienced declining or flat utilization during the same time period. The partnership has seen Addison Gilbert and Beverly Hospitals upgraded twice by Moody’s. In January 2013 it was upgraded from Baa2 with a stable outlook to a positive outlook. A year later, it was upgraded to Baa1 with a stable outlook.
“The coming together of Addison Gilbert and Beverly Hospitals with Lahey Clinic was a watershed moment for all involved, resulting in the creation of the new Lahey Health System,” said Howard Grant, J.D., M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Lahey Health System. “But more importantly, our relationship and the teaming of resources has made us better and stronger together - enabling us to deliver the highest quality care to patients on the North Shore in a far more efficient manner than was possible four years ago.”
The partnership among the organizations has been successful in executing a joint vision of improved care in the community. In the spirit of Lahey’s mission to keep care local, preserve the vitality of facilities and reduce costs, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center (LHMC) in Burlington and Lahey Medical Center in Peabody actively and routinely redirect their low‐acuity emergency department patients to local community hospitals, resulting in more than 400 inpatient transfers to Addison Gilbert and Beverly Hospitals in the last year.
Since the formation of Lahey Health System, the hospitals have continued to receive numerous recognitions including being rated among Truven Health Analytics 100 Top Hospitals and the Becker’s Hospital Review 100 Great Community Hospitals in 2015, as well as receiving an “A” in The Leapfrog Group’s Spring 2015 Hospital Safety Score — the gold standard rating for patient safety. Addison Gilbert and Beverly Hospitals were also two of the three hospitals in Massachusetts awarded “Exemplar” status, in recognition of excellence in geriatric care, by Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE).
“The relationship with Lahey Health has enabled us to continue to grow and strengthen both Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospitals through increased admissions, the ability to provide exceptional quality as well as reaching even higher quality and safety benchmarks,” said Phil Cormier, Chief Executive Officer, Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospitals. “Lahey Health’s commitment to providing the highest-quality care in the most appropriate cost-setting has been a tremendous benefit - both to our hospitals and to our patients and their families who are able to continue to receive care close to home.”
The Northeast Health System (NHS), which includes Addison Gilbert and Beverly Hospitals, and Lahey Clinic Foundation, came together to establish the Lahey Health System in 2012. Understanding that NHS was deeply rooted in the communities they serve and that maintaining that strong connection would be paramount, at their request NHS received equal representation with Lahey Clinic, along with an equal number of unaffiliated members, on the Lahey Health board. Four of Lahey Health’s current board positions are held by NHS, with nearly half of the members of the Lahey board coming from a community background. This shared governance structure and the promise that the needs of the system’s community hospitals would be heard on the larger board was ultimately one of the deciding factors for NHS, leading to the creation of Lahey Health.
“The decision to join together in order to form Lahey Health System was cemented by the unique set up of the system Board which guaranteed us equal footing for future planning,” said Nancy Palmer, Chair of the Board of Trustees for Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospitals. “We were impressed by the overlap in our strategies for health care and the way we could augment our resources with Lahey’s, but retaining a voice to advocate on issues affecting Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospitals and their patients was paramount.”
About Lahey Health
Lahey Health is what’s next in healthcare, providing a full continuum of integrated health services close to where you live or work. It is comprised of nationally recognized, award-winning hospitals—including an academic hospital and medical center, and community hospitals—primary care providers, specialist physicians, behavioral health services, post-acute programs such as home health services, skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities, and senior care resources located throughout northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.
Lahey Health offers nearly 1,400 locally-based physicians providing clinical excellence and an exceptional patient experience in adult and pediatric primary care and every medical specialty, including kidney and liver transplantation; neurosurgery, cancer, cardiovascular and orthopedic medical and surgical care; local emergency and trauma care; urological surgery; chronic disease prevention and health management; and pediatric emergency, newborn and inpatient care provided in collaboration with Boston Children’s Hospital physicians.
Lahey Health includes Lahey Hospital & Medical Center—a teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine—and Lahey Clinic physician group with practices in Burlington, Peabody and other locations throughout northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire; Beverly Hospital; Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, Mass.; Winchester Hospital; 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.
Together, we are making innovative, integrated healthcare more personal and more accessible. For more information, visit LaheyHealth.org and its member websites Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Beverly Hospital, Winchester Hospital, and Lahey Health Behavioral Services.
###
