Lahey-Winchester Deal Could Help Control Health Care Costs

By Les Masterson 

Lahey Health’s purchase of Winchester Hospital moved a step closer to becoming reality on Thursday.

The Boston Globe reported that the state Health Policy Commission approved a final report that said Lahey’s purchase of Winchester Hospital could save up to $2.7 million a year. The savings would come from lower physician prices and more patients moving from “higher-priced Boston hospitals to Lahey facilities,” reported The Boston Globe.

“We intend to monitor how this market works out,” Stuart Altman, chairman of the commission, told The Boston Globe. “What parties say and what they do may not turn out to be the same... If it turns out that our analysis was a little too optimistic, we eventually may go back to the Legislature for more authority.”

Lahey is not expected to cut any jobs in the merger, which is expected to close by July 1.

Lahey has facilities in more than a dozen communities, including Burlington, Peabody, Lexington, Wilmington, Arlington, Lynnfield, Concord, Danvers, Beverly, South Hamilton, Nashua, NH, and Portsmouth, NH. 

Winchester Hospital facilities include its main campus in Winchester as well as offices in Woburn, North Reading, Wilmington, Medford, Stoneham, Reading and North Andover. 

In addition to the Winchester Hospital purchase, Lahey is also planning a $76 million expansion at its Burlington campus.

Read the full Boston Globe article.