LYNN, MA—North Shore Medical Center and Partners HealthCare announced a revised restructuring plan that now involves the closure of the 126-bed North Shore Medical Center Union Hospital here in the next three years.

The revision to the more than $200-million restructuring plan was prompted by the planned closure in September of Spaulding Hospital North Shore, which is located on the campus of NSMC's Salem Hospital campus.

The original plan called for the Union Hospital in Lynn to be converted into a psychiatric facility, according to NSMC spokesperson Laura Fleming. However, the announced closure of the larger long-term 160-bed Spaulding North Shore Hospital in Salem in April caused Partners Health Care, owner of the Spaulding Hospital and North Shore Medical Center, to convert the Spaulding North Shore Hospital to a psychiatric facility instead of the Union Hospital in Lynn. The new plan calls for the conversion of the Spaulding North Shore Hospital into a more than 100-bed Center of Excellence in Behavioral Health. Upon completion, the new facility will be directly aligned with Massachusetts General Hospital and add 40 to 50 new beds to the region for psychiatry and behavioral health services.

NSMC President Robert G. Norton says of the revised consolidation plan, “We are confident that this plan succeeds in delivering the highest quality care to our patients in a comprehensive and thoughtful way. In the new heath care environment, this plan will help us better coordinate care, improve quality and more effectively contribute to the overall health of our communities.”

It is unclear as to the exact date of the NSMC Union Hospital closure. Officials say the closure will take place within the next three years. All inpatient services currently based at NSMC's Union Hospital campus will be consolidated at Salem Hospital over the course of the next 36 months.

Another major facet of the reorganization plan is the construction of a new emergency department and two additional family-centered inpatient units at NSMC Salem Hospital.

North Shore Physicians Group practice currently on the Union Campus will remain in Lynn and will offer access to expanded outpatient primary, specialty and behavioral health services, NSMC officials state. NSMC will continue to operate the current emergency department on the Union campus over the transition of the next several years. The NSMC Union Hospital has been in operation at its current site since 1953. NSMC has owned it since 1997.

“As members of this community, we have a special commitment to ensuring that NSMC delivers care of the highest quality and value,” says Richard Holbrook, chairman and CEO of Eastern Bank and chairman of the NSMC Board of Trustees. “We are investing more than $200 million in our communities because we believe this is the best plan for the patients and families of the North Shore.”

Approximately 100 positions will be affected by the closure. Fleming says that the job losses should be absorbed through normal attrition over the next three years.

“This is reflective of the direction health care is going,” Fleming says. “It is going to enable us to configure our resources to better serve the community.”

The future use of the NSMC Union Hospital in Lynn has not been determined. Fleming says that NSMC plans to meet with community leaders on the future of the site. The consolidation plan must be approved by the state Department of Public Health. NSMC plans to file a Certificate of Need with the state in September.