SALEM — In a move to contain costs, Partners HealthCare and North Shore Medical Center are mulling the closure and consolidation of Salem Hospital’s well-regarded Cardiac Surgery program with Massachusetts General Hospital’s in Boston.
The news came in the form of a memo to physicians, employees and volunteers from NSMC President Robert Norton.
The consolidation is being proposed amid a 40-percent decline in demand for heart surgery in New England and nationwide in recent years, Norton said. Norton also cites financial pressures as Salem Hospital cares for “the region’s most vulnerable patients.” The hospital has been looking at ways to deliver care more efficiently on the North Shore.
“Recently those discussions have focused on Cardiac surgery at NSMC and whether there is an opportunity for a different model of care,” Norton said in his memo.
“We are discussing with the NSMC board the possibility of consolidating cardiac surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital,” said Rich Copp, vice president of communications for Partners HealthCare, in a statement.
The program dates back nearly 15 years. It opened to meet the needs for cardiac surgery and to support primary and elective angioplasty, Norton’s memo said.
But demand for cardiac surgery is down.
Read the entire Salem News articles here.
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