Mass General Brigham Scraps Expansion Plans in Westborough

Taryn Harding, pictured at a SHARE “Smile for a Raise” event supporting contract negotiations at Marlborough Hospital.

Marlborough Hospital SHARE Members Celebrate

Good news came on Friday night in a surprising twist in the saga of the MGB proposal to build three new huge ambulatory centers west of Boston: MGB retracted the proposal. MGB got word that the Department of Public Health was going to deny their application.

Taryn Harding, Ultrasound Tech and SHARE Executive Board Member at Marlborough Hospital testified in the DPH hearings about the proposed Mass General Brigham expansion in Westborough. Taryn says:

“I am so excited and relieved to hear the news that MGB won’t be opening down the street! People told me ‘they (MGB) are a giant, a monster - you won’t be able to stop them. It’s in the bag - there’s nothing you can do’. Well, all of our hard work meeting, writing, and testifying has paid off! When great people come together and give it their all, they can achieve truly amazing things.”

Taryn Harding and Courtney DesRosiers pictured delivering a mega Valentine’s Day card to management in support of contract negotiations.

SHARE opposed the plan to open an MGB ambulatory center in Westborough because it threatened SHARE jobs at Marlborough Hospital, and because it would increase the cost of health insurance for SHARE members.

According to Community Advocate: State Sen. Jamie Eldridge [pictured below with SHARE leaders], who has loudly opposed the MGB proposal, promptly celebrated on social media.

‘This was an impressive organizing campaign including the ‘Boroughs legislative delegation, hospital unions, doctors and nurses, and municipal officials, to defeat MGB trying to bring surgical centers to communities including Westborough, that would have increased healthcare costs, and threaten[ed] care for low-income patients,” he wrote. 

“David can beat Goliath!” he added.

Courtney Desrosiers, Ambulatory Services Rep and SHARE Executive Member at Marlborough Hospital puts it this way, “Marlborough Hospital is important to the community. Patients rely on our quality of care, and our caregivers are always striving to improve their experience. Our patients need us to be here for them.”

Read more in The Boston Globe

SHARE Leaders met with legislators to update them about progress on contract negotiations at Marlboro Hospital and to urge them to oppose the MGB expansion.

Mass General Brigham Reveals “Independent” Cost Analysis

Mass General Brigham continues its push to expand in central Massachusetts. UMass Memorial reports that “an ‘independent’ cost analysis prepared by a consultant selected and paid for by Mass General Brigham [MGB] was released . . . regarding MGB’s proposed expansion into Westborough, Woburn and Westwood. We were disappointed, but not surprised, that the ICA analysis was narrow in focus and skewed to favor MGB.” UMass Memorial contends that “The ICA [Independent Cost Analysis] failed to provide any analysis whatsoever of major cost drivers, the impact upon stability of local safety net hospitals, or the impact on health equity.” 

A recent piece in the Boston Globe says that “the proposal pits MGB’s need to grow against the state’s interest in maintaining a competitive health care marketplace,” describing how the MGB’s business model of targeting wealthier patients undercuts the work of local community hospitals. (Read “After failed China project, Mass General Brigham eyes growth at home.”)

Together with UMass Memorial and other groups, SHARE opposes the MGB’s proposed expansion. The Department of Public Health is currently taking rebuttals to the MGB’s independent analysis.

News Items that Matter to SHARE Members

These days, the broadcasts and news feeds are full of information that matter to SHARE. In case you missed them, here are a few particular things that we are keeping our eye on: 

Bonuses for Essential Workers

Governor Baker recently vetoed the part of the COVID Relief Spending Bill that would spend $460 million dollars on essential workers who worked in-person throughout COVID. It appears that Baker does want to deliver the money to essential workers, but he didn’t approve of the “red tape” the legislature had attached to the process. Early January should show us whether the legislature will over-ride Baker’s veto, and who will decide how this money is distributed. (Thank you, SHARE members who voiced your support for hazard pay to your legislators! Nice work!) Read more in the Boston Globe.

Money for Mental Health, Community Hospitals

The COVID Relief Spending Bill also dedicates $260 million for financially stressed hospitals, and $400 million for addiction treatment and related behavioral health services. UMass Memorial serves a large share of Medicaid patients, and increasing the number of Psych beds anywhere in the state could help with the logjam of patients in our ERs and Psych units. We will stay attentive to see how much of this money comes to our hospitals to benefit patients and SHARE members.  

News about the MGB Expansion

Rumor has it that the Mass General’s Independent Cost Analysis was coming out last week. Will it come out this week? We shall see. SHARE members have a big stake in the outcome of MGB’s plans – read more about it here. In addition, the bill that would protect community hospitals by giving the Massachusetts legislature a say about hospital expansions like this MGB proposal passed the House and is moving forward. Thanks to the SHARE members who let their voices be heard to their state reps and senators!   

This Week: Managing Holiday Stress and Protecting Community Hospitals

Ask Your Legislator to Protect Community Hospitals

State House to Vote Today! Thank you to everyone who send a letter to their state legislators about the Mass General Brigham expansion. We have just learned that there is a vote TODAY about a new law that would protect community hospitals by making sure that in the future proposals like MGB’s get closer scrutiny. The Coalition to Protect Community Care is asking us to send a quick note to our State Rep – again, it’s totally quick and easy to do. Learn more. To contact your legislators, just click here:

Managing Stress During the Holiday Season

SHARE recently received the following information from UMass Memorial. We hope it can help make this holiday season a little bit happier. The event is free and open to all UMass Memorial employees . . .

HOLIDAY STRESS STARTING TO CREEP IN?

Join us this Friday, noon to 1 pm, for a live webinar hosted by our Optum EAP that will help us identify the biggest causes of holiday stress, find coping strategies that promote well-being, practice setting realistic expectations, and plan to approach the holidays differently this year. Read the full post.

Make Self-Care count

There’s Still Time to Earn 2021 myHealth Matters Incentives! Benefits-eligible employees: With the myHealth Matters portal closing December 7, time’s running out to earn your next reward level. Don’t forget to claim points for any activities you completed this year. Remember, 3,000 points in the portal earns you a $300 Health Reimbursement Account deposit, so start logging those activities today! Learn more.

Send a Quick Message to Protect Community Hospitals

State House to Vote Today! Thank you to everyone who send a letter to their state legislators about the Mass General Brigham expansion. We have just learned that there is a vote TODAY about a new law that would protect community hospitals by making sure that in the future proposals like MGB’s get closer scrutiny. The Coalition to Protect Community Care is asking us to send a quick note to our State Rep – again, it’s totally quick and easy to do. Just click here:

Here are a couple of articles about it:

https://www.patriotledger.com/story/news/2021/11/07/rep-mariano-file-bill-protect-community-hospitals/6331341001/

https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2021/11/04/speaker-mariano-wants-to-save-local-hospitals-stronger-oversight-over-health-care-chains-expansion-is-how-he-wants-to-do-it

Here’s what the letter says that you would be sending to your State Rep:

As the state seeks to enhance the market review process for healthcare provider expansions, I would like to express my support of H.4253 and respectfully ask that you vote in favor of passing the bill, ensuring that any legislation holds Mass General Brigham (MGB) and its expansion plans accountable.

With healthcare costs continuing to skyrocket each year, I applaud the Speaker and House leadership’s efforts to improve and strengthen the regulatory process for reviewing provider expansions through determination of need. The root cause for this legislation – MGB’s proposal to build three new ambulatory care centers in Woburn, Westwood, and Westborough – has raised serious concerns about how expansions without sufficient need can exacerbate healthcare costs, worsen health inequities, and threaten community providers.

H.4253 would establish a thorough, objective regulatory framework that would protect both patients and community healthcare providers from expansion proposals like MGB’s that would have detrimental impacts on the healthcare landscape and the Commonwealth.

Please consider voting to pass H.4253 to help contain healthcare costs; protect high-quality, affordable healthcare providers; keep low-cost community hospitals sustainable; and preserve access to critical safety net services.

Keep the Pressure on to Stop the MGB Expansion

While we await completion of the Mass General Brigham cost-analysis (the next step in the Department of Public Health’s decision to approve expansion), the Coalition to Protect Community Care has asked us to sign on to a message to our state legislators. You can help. It’s all automatic and takes less than a minute: click here. 

The form letter is quick and easy. You just put in your name and address. The system will automatically generate a message to your area legislators, asking them to join UMass Memorial in opposing MGB’s strategy.

As today’s Op-Ed in the Boston Globe points out, “A recent proposal by Mass General Brigham (formerly Partners HealthCare) to build outpatient surgery centers in Westborough, Westwood, and Woburn marks a troubling new threat to the survival of community hospitals and to overall health care costs for Massachusetts residents.” Every signature counts. Thank you.

Read more posts on the SHARE blog about the #MGB Expansion

Mass General Expansion Update

Last week, SHARE joined other members of the Coalition to Protect Community Care to talk with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office about Mass General Brigham’s (MGB) proposal to expand to Westborough, Westwood and Woburn, which we have reported about here previously.

The Attorney General’s office wanted to understand why each group objected to the MGB plan. SHARE Representative Janet Wilder spoke about our concern that a large MGB facility in Westborough would lead to layoffs at UMass Memorial due to the loss of patient volume. In addition, MGB is the most expensive care system in Massachusetts – if the cost of health insurance rises, that makes it more difficult for us to negotiate for raises and other benefits. The Mass Nurses Association representatives talked about MGB’s focus on wealthier communities that don’t need more options for healthcare. Representatives of the nonprofit organizations United Way and Centro talked about how much UMass Memorial has helped them provide services to their communities during the pandemic. Doctors representing independent private practices talked about how hard they are working to keep care affordable: Why would the state authorize the expansion of the most expensive care? A representative of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce talked about the effect of more expensive health insurance on small businesses.

“It seemed to me that the Attorney General’s Office really wanted to know how they could help,” said Janet Wilder. The next step is the completion of the independent cost analysis of the effect of MGB’s proposal, which we hope will evaluate the proposal’s impact on the cost of care and on equity. SHARE will continue to make our members’ voices heard in this process.

*YOU* Can Help Oppose MGB Expansion

SHARE opposes the expansion of Mass General Brigham (MGB) because the expansion threatens Union jobs, the financial stability of our hospitals, and care for our most vulnerable patients. (Read more about how MGB’s expansion could impact SHARE jobs and Central Massachusetts.)

SHARE Encourages You TO VOICE YOUR CONCERNS

The Department of Public Health has reopened the public comment period from now until Wednesday, June 2nd at 5PM ET. It’s really quick – just takes a minute!

To make providing a public testimony for community members that have not yet testified easier, the Coalition to Protect Community Care has launched an online platform that allows you to fill out your personal information and send a testimony for public record directly to the Department of Public Health’s Determination of Need program. In other words:

• Just enter your name and address, then

• You can add your thoughts to the statement or just hit “submit” to send the basic message of why we oppose the Mass General Brigham expansion.

• Share to any and all who might be willing to help with this! (We’ve included a sample email template below)

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Sample Email Template

Hi X,

SHARE is proud to support the Coalition to Protect Community Care, which is opposing Mass General Brigham’s proposal to build outpatient facilities in Woburn, Westborough and Westwood. We have serious concerns that, if approved, Mass General Brigham’s outpatient centers will threaten the financial viability of critical local healthcare providers; exacerbate healthcare inequities; increase the cost of care; and jeopardize essential local jobs.

The Department of Public Health is now accepting public comments on Mass General Brigham’s proposal until Wednesday, June 2 at 5PM. If you would like to make your concerns known, please feel empowered to submit a pre-written comment via this online petition platform.

If you have colleagues, family members and friends who are also concerned about Mass General Brigham’s plans, we encourage you to share this online platform with them so that they too can make their voices heard.

Thank you in advance for your advocacy.

Best,

X

SHARE Joins Coalition to Protect Community Care

The SHARE Executive Boards at the Med Center and Marlborough Hospital have voted to join the Coalition to Protect Community Care. SHARE leaders are already on the record as opposing the expansion of Mass General Brigham (MGB), because the expansion threated SHARE Union jobs, the financial stability of our hospitals, and care for our most vulnerable patients. (Read more about how MGB’s expansion could impact SHARE jobs and Central Massachusetts.)

By joining the Coalition, SHARE joins forces with providers (UMass Memorial, Shields and Wellforce), community organizations (including the YWCA, the Boys and Girls Club, the United Way, Thrive, Centro and the Central West Justice Center), the Chambers of Commerce of Worcester and Marlborough, and the Mass Nurses Association.

The latest that we’ve heard from the Mass Department of Public Health about their decision about allowing MGB to build these new clinic centers is that DPH has extended the comment period because some technical problems prevented people from submitting their comments.

SHARE Members Testify Against Mass General Brigham Expansion to Westborough

At the DPH virtual hearing on April 6, SHARE members from both UMass Memorial Medical Center and UMass Memorial Marlborough Hospital testified against MGB’s proposal to expand to Westborough. As the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports, “Voices of many, including local and state officials, rose in opposition to Mass General Brigham's plans for an ambulatory care center in Westboro as the Department of Public Health hosted a hearing on the application for the project.”

Below are some highlights of SHARE members’ testimony: 

Kim Latrobe, SHARE Rep and Vascular Tech, said, “I love my job and the patients that I care for. I hear firsthand about the communities struggle along with personal family troubles with the economic impact of the pandemic. Any increase to the cost of care will greatly affect the families with their continued health care. MGB has a track record of merging, acquiring or pushing out community healthcare systems and then pricing services at a higher cost, increasing the financial burden placed upon patients throughout the Commonwealth.” 

Kelly Fournier, Radiation Therapist at the Cancer Center at Marlborough Hospital  voiced her concerns. “A lot of our patients have MassHealth insurance. We welcome and treat everyone. They are just as sick and just as deserving of our care as anyone else, even though our hospitals get paid less for caring for them than for patients with private insurance. I worry that a new MGB facility in Westborough would pull the private insurance patients away from UMass Memorial. We need those patients too.  It makes up for the cost of caring for MassHealth patients. Our safety net hospitals will be in financial danger and may not survive. That could be a huge impact not only on our jobs, but also on our patients who need a safety net hospital like UMass Memorial.  They need us to be here for them.” 

Rita Caputo at work in the Primary Care Clinic

Rita Caputo, SHARE Co-President at the Med Center testified, “If MGB drives up the costs of health care, it’s going to hurt everyone except MGB. At least we have a union to try to figure out what to do about it with our hospital, on behalf of our members. I feel bad for all the non-union workers out there, and the small businesses trying to provide health insurance for their employees.” 

Janet Wilder, SHARE Organizer, wrapped up her statement by saying, “On behalf of over 3000 SHARE members and their families, we urge DPH to protect existing good local jobs and to keep the cost of our health care from increasing unnecessarily. That means taking a really close look at the MGB proposal, asking the Health Policy Commission to do a truly independent cost analysis, and then making the right decision.” 

Scheduled from 6p-9p, the hearing lasted until 10pm because there were so many people who wanted to have a say. Testimony against the MGB proposal outnumbered testimony in favor by about 3-to-1, it seemed. Taryn Harding, Ultrasound Tech from Marlborough Hospital, said the next day, “I’m inspired by last night’s hearing. I feel like those who are “opposed” dominated that call . . . over four-and-a-half hours-worth of it!”  

Mass General Is Coming this Way

What does Mass General Brigham Expansion West

Mean for SHARE Members? 

If you’ve seen the news lately, you may have seen the articles (here and here) about Mass General Brigham’s plans to build at new outpatient center in Westborough. Mass General Brigham (formerly “Partners”, now known as “MGB”) announced it plans to spend $400 million to build new ambulatory centers in 3 towns along the outer suburban ring of Boston -- Westborough, Woburn, and Salem, NH – as well as to expand their clinics in Westwood.

Competition for UMass Memorial

The SHARE Executive Board at Marlborough Hospital is particularly concerned about MGB taking away UMass Memorial patients since they would be close by. If patients decide to get their outpatient care there, they may drive into Boston when they need inpatient care too. If a substantial number of patients choose MGB, that could threaten jobs at Marlborough Hospital.

MGB is the largest provider of healthcare in Massachusetts, with notoriously deep pockets. They are locating these clinics in relatively wealthy towns, where there are more patients with private insurance. Hospitals get paid more for the care we provide by private insurance than by from Medicare, and especially by MassHealth (Medicaid). Some say that MGB is intentionally trying to attract the better-paying patients, while leaving safety net hospitals like UMass Memorial to care for the Medicare and Medicaid patients. That’s not good for the bottom line at UMass Memorial.

Making the Cost of Care Go Up?

The cost of care at Mass General Brigham is higher than at other providers in the state. Data from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission showed that “As more outpatient procedures shift to Partners hospitals, costs overall go up.” These proposed new clinics could accelerate that trend. If UMass Memorial employees choose to get their care at the new MGB locations, it could increase the cost of health insurance for all of us.

DPH Approval Needed

MGB has to get approval from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health before building these new ambulatory centers. UMass Memorial and other health systems will probably want their voices to be heard in that process. SHARE plans to pay close attention to the proceedings, and to make SHARE members’ point of view heard.