Coalition to Protect Community Care Opposes MGB Expansion

On April 27, the Coalition to Protect Community Care (CPCC) launched a campaign to oppose Mass General Brigham (MGB)’s service expansion to Westwood, as well as Westborough and Woburn. CPCC’s concern is that viability of essential local hospitals and health systems, raise costs, and impede equitable access to care for the region’s most vulnerable will be affected by MGB’s expansion, due to their large size.

Coalition to Protect Community Care’s membership is growing, but current members include: United Way of Central Massachusetts; Central West Justice Center; Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce; Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce; Thrive Support & Advocacy; YWCA of Central Massachusetts; Boys & Girls Club of Worcester; Coalition for a Healthy Greater Worcester; Highland Healthcare Associates IPA; Worcester Community Action Council; UMass Memorial Health; Shields Health Care Group; Wellforce; Coghlin Electrical Contractors, Inc.; and Virtual, Inc.

Mass General Brigham filed a $2.4 billion expansion plan with the Department of Public Health (DPH) on April 1. CPCC stated in a press release that “The ambulatory services proposed are already offered by lower-cost, high-quality community providers in these regions – duplicating pre-existing services without increasing the quality of care and contradicting cost containment objectives set by the state to encourage the proper allocation of healthcare resources.”

The press release also stated that “MGB’s expansion undermines the viability of community-oriented local healthcare providers who serve as critical safety net facilities for the region’s most vulnerable. It has been well-documented by Massachusetts regulators, academic research and on-the-ground practitioners that ambulatory care centers without local affiliations draw patients with commercial insurance away from nearby community hospitals and health systems. This would be devastating for community providers who rely on that care to maintain operations and provide high-quality services to patients who are insured by public programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, or those who are uninsured. MGB’s expansion would force local institutions to reduce or discontinue critical safety net services, raise the cost of care, or even close their doors entirely.”

The Coalition to Protect Community Care notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has repeatedly raised issues of health disparities connected to people’s race and class.

To learn more about the Coalition to Protect Community Care and how to get involved, visit: www.protectcommunitycare.org.

Note: Westwood Patch reached out to Mass General Brigham regarding the Coalition to Protect Community Care, and they did not respond.