Tufts Medicine plans to take over cancer services in early 2023 at the MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham, which is owned and operated by Tenet Healthcare Corp., the parent company of Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester.
The deal, announced Thursday, is pending state regulatory approval. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The cancer center will continue to provide oncology and radiation oncology services but now under the Boston-based Tufts Medicine umbrella instead of through MetroWest Medical Center.
Tufts plans to add cancer surgery services on site at MetroWest, The deal expands Tufts’ service area into MetroWest and gives the provider a greater opportunity to send patients for more specialized services at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, when necessary.
In April, the Dallas-based Tenet had announced plans to close parts of its oncology unit at the MetroWest Medical Center, which was met with push back from nurses. Plans were to move some of the services, including oncology infusion and radiation oncology, to Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester due to dwindling numbers of patients and for budgetary reasons, which Carolyn Jackson, CEO of the Tenet market in Massachusetts, confirmed with the MetroWest Daily News earlier this year.
The MetroWest Medical Center has two facilities in Central Massachusetts: Framingham Union Hospital in Framingham and Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick. Tenet also operates Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester. Tenet purchased the hospitals from Vanguard Health Systems in 2013.
Tufts Medicine comprises the Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Lowell General Hospital, MelroseWakefield Hospital, Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford, Care at Home, and an integrated physician network. It is the teaching affiliate for Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.
