(Updated on Dec. 23) UMass Memorial Health Care is considering a new emergency department at HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster, President and CEO Eric Dickson said Thursday.
That project is awaiting approval from the state and it will be three or four years before construction will likely be complete, Dickson said.
HealthAlliance is expected to absorb Clinton Hospital in a merger that was approved by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission on Oct. 1.
Clinton is expected to continue operating as a satellite location. Dickson said the system needed to grow services, particularly geriatric medicine, at Clinton Hospital, and merging the two hospitals made way for that. Clinton has struggled financially while the larger HealthAlliance is in a stronger financial position.
(Note: This story was updated to more accurately reflect the estimated timeline for a new HealthAlliance emergency department.)Â
