Beth Israel Lahey Health Opens Care Center In Quincy

QUINCY, MA—A new Beth Israel Lahey Health Care Center has opened in Quincy, welcoming its first patients in the same week as the city's only emergency room was permanently shut down.

The new medical center offers urgent care, primary care, specialty care, and diagnostic imaging in one location, bringing services to a city that has been trying to build up its care facilities since Quincy Medical Center closed in 2014.

"With the opening of this new comprehensive care center, we are bringing together clinicians with a broad range of specialties to serve the Quincy community," said Michael Rowan, executive Vice President for hospital and ambulatory services at Beth Israel, in a press release. "This new center reflects our commitment to expanding access to comprehensive care in the community, close to where people live and work."

The new medical center includes an urgent care clinic open seven days a week and staffed by board-certified emergency medicine physicians affiliated with Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School.

The clinic treats adults and children over the age of 2 with urgent but not life-threatening injuries or illnesses, including ear and urinary tract infections, common colds, the flu, sprains and strains, and cuts and deep bruises. Patients needing further care can be easily transferred to either Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton or Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with the help of an integrated medical record system.

"Providing access to high quality healthcare for our residents is a major priority," Koch said in a statement. "To have the world-renowned care offered by Beth Israel Lahey Health readily accessible in the heart of our downtown is a great step forward. I'm truly grateful for this new partnership and for all the hard work that helped make it a reality."

The closure of the emergency room at Quincy Medical Center makes Quincy the largest city in Massachusetts without an ER. Steward Health Care, owner of Carney Hospital, has operated the building since 2011 and closed all departments except for the emergency room in 2014. Four years ago, the company sold the building to FoxRock Properties in a three-way deal with Quincy. FoxRock announced in July that it would not be renewing its least with Steward Health Care in November.

"As more and more Quincy residents chose Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton for their health care needs, we are excited to partner with colleagues from across the Beth Israel Lahey Health System to expand access to high quality care in Quincy," said Rich Fernandez, president of BID-Milton, in a press release on the medical center's website. "We are also deeply appreciative to the city's state and local leaders for supporting our efforts to bring these new health care services to Quincy."

In a meeting with state officials in September, Carney Hospital President Tom Sands said the need for urgent care centers such as Beth Israel Lahey Health Care Center in Quincy have increased because they provide more accessible services than emergency care, claiming that other emergency rooms in the area could take over the more serious cases.