UMass Memorial Partners With Southborough Doctors
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A rendering of the new UMass Memorial at Southborough outpatient center on Newton Street in Southborough.
Marlborough Hospital, which is part of the UMass Memorial Health Care system, is opening a new outpatient center in Southborough as part of a collaboration with Southborough Medical Group, a 70-physician primary care practice.
Parts of the 60,000-square-foot building, named UMass at Southborough, have been open for a few weeks, although hospital officials had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the complex last week. The center will be fully operation within a few weeks, according to John Polanowicz, president of Marlborough Hospital. The site will eventually house about 40 doctors, including six new hires.
The facility will free up space within Marlborough Hospital and will give Southborough Medical Group patients easier access to certain types of specialty care, according to Marvin Ostrovsky, president of the Southborough Medical Group.
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The center will host three main functions including the MedWorks Occupational Health practice, which is relocating from Marlborough Hospital; an endoscopy center, which will open in a few weeks; and the Women's Imaging Center, which should open before the end of the year. Services provided at the center will include gastroenterology, pulmonology, nephrology, urology, orthopedics, cancer care, neurology and surgery, among others.
It's located at 28 Newton St., adjacent to the Southborough Medical Group's offices at 24 Newton St., which are in the same building.
The units had been empty before UMass Memorial spent about $1.4 million to renovate them and negotiate a long-term lease for the property, Polanowicz said. New endoscopy equipment, stretchers and furniture were installed at the facility.
Discussions about forming a partnership with Southborough Medical Group began more than two years ago, Polanowicz said. When he first arrived at the hospital in 2003, the medical group had partnerships with other medical practices, but not the hospital. So, Polanowicz made it a goal to increase that collaboration.
Working with a primary care group allows the hospital's specialists to treat patients from the medical group's practice.
As part of the agreement, Southborough Medical Group will also host some University of Massachusetts Medical School students and residents.
For the medical group, Ostrovsky said it's a win-win.
"What we're trying to do is have closer communication between the specialists and the primary care physicians," he said. "By working closer together you can develop more efficient...ways of treating patients and faster response times between patients and physicians."
Polanowicz said he's hopeful the new facility is just the beginning of new investments for Marlborough Hospital. If the hospital continues to see patient growth in the future years, Polanowicz said he hopes to at least do some renovations within Marlborough Hospital to accommodate the growth, if not expand.
While the UMass Memorial system is expanding, it's also contracting, too. The medical system announced this week that it would cut the equivalent of 350 jobs in an effort to trim $27 million from its budget.
According to a report from the Associated Press, UMass will lay off 130 workers, eliminate 120 unfilled jobs and reduce the hours for the equivalent of 100 full-time workers.
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