WESTWOOD, Mass. — Mass General Brigham officials said Friday the hospital system has withdrawn its controversial proposal to build outpatient care centers in Woburn and Westborough and to expand an existing facility in Westwood after learning Department of Public Health staff would not recommend approval of the projects.
The DPH did, however, recommend that the Public Health Council, with conditions, partially approve a project at the main campus of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and approve a project at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital.
“We look forward to engaging with the Public Health Council and hope to receive their final approval of our plans to increase access to our world-renowned Boston teaching hospitals for patients who need the high-quality care they provide,” MGB President and CEO Dr. Anne Klibanski said in a statement.
Top officials from Mass. General and Faulkner hospitals said the expansions would ease capacity challenges in the system and better serve patients.
The trio of suburban ambulatory care centers, which MGB had described as a way to allow its existing patients in those areas to receive services closer to home and at a lower cost, were opposed by organizations banded together as the Coalition to Protect Community Care, including UMass Memorial Health, Wellforce, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, Health Care for All, and chambers of commerce representing Worcester, Marlborough, Stoneham, Medford and Melrose.
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