Cancer Center Is Sign Of The Times
Strategies of local hospitals shift as health care landscape evolves
The January 2008 opening of the Cancer Center at Milford Regional Medical Center, a partnership between MRMC, Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital, has some local teaching hospitals re-thinking their strategies for attracting lucrative tertiary business, or specialized, consultative care.
The expanded and improved care is no doubt a boon to suffering patients, but competing hospitals may soon feel the pain of lost business.
While quick to point out that his hospital's partnership with Dana-Farber is about better treatment, and not competition, Frank Saba, president and CEO of MRMC, acknowledged the potential for the center to draw patients that may have otherwise gone for treatment in Worcester or nearby MetroWest Medical Center, let alone Boston.
Rather than try to compete directly with smaller community medical centers for their business, John G. O'Brien, president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care, says that more supportive partnerships with community hospitals are a better strategy than head-on competition for patients.
Which is not to say that UMass Memorial can't afford to compete with the smaller Milford Regional. UMass Memorial Health Care finished fiscal year 2007 with a $77.1 million operational surplus on total system revenues of nearly $2 billion, according to its annual report.
The partnership between Milford Regional and world-renowned cancer institute Dana-Farber came about because both institutions saw a need for the other, said Dr. Lawrence Shullman, chief medical officer and senior vice president of medical affairs for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
"We've chosen to partner with them and not compete with them, because we think their physicians are excellent in their own right," Shullman said. "We think (MetroWest) is an area of need, with a large population that would benefit from the partnership that the hospital alone couldn't provide without us."
Odd Bedfellows
The partnership was forged despite MRMC's pre-existing affiliation with UMass Memorial. While not owned outright by the UMass Memorial Health Care system, Milford benefits from a number of partnership programs with UMass, according to officials from both institutions.
Several years ago, when Milford was considering expanding its oncology services, lengthy discussions were held with UMass, said Saba.
Ultimately, the hospital felt it would be better served by the Boston institutions.
"We had always felt that to take our oncology service to the next level that we needed to have a large academic medical center or tertiary care center as a partner," Saba said. "UMass has been a very strong partner and is a preferred partner, but we did feel that Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women's as cancer partners would be a better thing for community." The $25 million center is a 54,000-square-foot two-story structure.
Milford is not the only community benefiting from a westward expansion by Boston hospitals. In July, Saint Vincent Hospital struck a teaching agreement with Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston.
Dennis Irish, a spokesman for St. Vincent's, said for community hospitals, partnering with larger institutions is "a good strategy."
It's a strategy the local health care community can expect to see more of, according to the Massachusetts Hospital Association.
Richard Copp, a spokesman for the MHA, said such partnerships are "sprouting out" all across the state, particularly as the larger Boston institutions run out of crowded and expensive space downtown.
"We're seeing a lot more community hospitals build partnerships to introduce new and advanced care to their communities," Copp said.
"Generally speaking, these partnerships allow the community hospital to offer better care not previously available, and for Boston hospitals to expand their reach without building in Boston."
O'Brien agreed, noting Children's Hospital and Mass General Hospital's expansion into the 128 corridor in Waltham.
Both Irish and O'Brien negated the potential for competition at their hospitals, but O'Brien noted UMMC is in the midst of boosting its own oncology services, partly to remain competitive and keep attracting top physicians, which in turn attracts patients.
Irish also noted the possibility that Boston care and services may also bring hefty Boston prices.
"If they start charging premium Dana-Farber, downtown Boston prices in Milford, it could well drive up the costs of health care for area providers," Irish said.
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