Health

HEALTH • Summer 2018 5 UMass Memorial gets $110M bond for surgical, ER expansions UMass Memorial Health Care has received a $110-million bond to improve its two Worcester hospital campuses and its Leominster hospi- tal. The tax-exempt bond was issued by MassDevelopment, a quasi-pub- lic state agency. At UMass' University Campus in Worcester, the bond proceeds will pay for a new 18-bed medical surgi- cal unit, MRI improvements and other renovations. At the Memorial Campus, the funds will cover reno- vation of in-patient rooms and employee work spaces, and new utility infrastructure, including HVAC and water systems. At HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital's campus in Leominster, improvements will include 13 new emergency department exam rooms, new surgical-unit sterile processing operations, expansion { Health Care Briefs } and renovation of the parking struc- ture on the North Main Street side of the building. Saint Vincent Hospital opens behavioral health unit Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester opened a new behavioral health wing of its emergency department, as it seeks to meet a growing need. The unit, with eight individual rooms for patients, is the first of its kind at Saint Vincent, which in the past has not had any space devoted for those entering the emergency room in need of mental health treat- ment. The hospital also has plans to expand its in-patient mental health unit from 13 beds to 20. The creation of the unit comes nearly a year after UMass Memorial Health Care received state approval to close its 13 psychiatric beds at its University Campus and convert them to medical/surgical use. New Complimentary Family Programs ADCARE.COM ADCARE HOSPITAL OF WORCESTER 107 Lincoln Street, Worcester, MA Is someone you work with struggling with drugs or alcohol? AdCare can help. Call 1-800-ALCOHOL ADCARE OUTPATIENT SERVICES 95 Lincoln Street, Worcester, MA Boston, Quincy, North Dartmouth, West Springfield, North Kingstown, and Warwick, RI Reliant Medical Group moving into former Price Chopper, Habitat for Humanity Reliant Medical Group has knocked down the former Price Chopper grocery store off Route 9 in Shrewsbury to build a new medical office facility and will build a 32,000-square-foot facility in its place to open by March 2019. Fairlawn Plaza includes the restaurants Imperial Buffet and Udupi but otherwise has several vacancies. It is being rebranded as MarketPlace Shrewsbury by Shrewsbury developer Plaza Properties, the owner of the center. Reliant is also moving into a former Habitat for Humanity store on Gold Star Boulevard in Worcester. The building is being gutted and renovated now, and Reliant is due to move in this October with rehabilitation and sports medicine treatment. By September, Reliant will open its new offices at 5 Neponset St., near the Greendale Mall. Two other Worcester locations — 191 May St. and 300 Grove St. — will close, with their services moved to 5 Neponset St. UMass plans a new 120-bed psychi- atric hospital costing $18 million to $20 million to open in early 2019. Construction is underway at 100 Century Drive on the West Boylston line for the facility. Surgical center opens in Shrewsbury A $31-million ambulatory surgical center has opened in a partnership among UMass Memorial Health Care, Shields Health Care Group and Reliant Medical Group. The center is at 151 Main St., just off Exit 22 from I-290. The Surgery Center has 70 staff members and nine operating rooms to serve what is expected to be 10,000 patients per year by 2020. Orthopedic procedures and plastic surgeries are expected to account for a majority of procedures there, with other specialties added soon, such as urology and otolaryngology. Surgeons from UMass Memorial Medical Group and Reliant Medical group operate at the center each weekday. As an ambulatory surgery center, the facility for operations for patients who can recover at home, and is meant to be more affordable because patients don't need to pay for emer- gency rooms or other overhead costs. Partners, Harvard Pilgrim exploring merger Health care giant Partners is exploring a merger with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a major insurer, but is also looking at other possible alliances. A Partners spokesman confirmed the possible deal, which was reported by other media outlets. "As the healthcare environment changes and insurers and providers increasingly share financial risk, tra- ditional relationships are shifting," Partners spokesman Richard Copp said. "Partners HealthCare is constantly exploring new partnerships and rela- tionships with other providers and insurers with the goal of improving the delivery of health care to patients both locally and around the world. Harvard Pilgrim is certainly among those organizations." Continued on Page 6

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