South Shore Health and Wellforce announced today that the organizations are in partnership discussions and the parties have formally indicated their intention to move forward with discussions and developing a tighter relationship. The organizations provided the following statements.
Statement from Wellforce Board Chair Ellen Zane
Wellforce was founded to bring together innovative health care providers who are focused on transforming health care in Massachusetts. Over the last five years, we have proven that academic and community medicine can work in partnership to improve quality, lower health care costs, keep care local and improve the health of communities. We are currently in partnership discussions with South Shore Health, a strong regional health system that shares our commitment to these values. Our discussions are ongoing and we are discovering many opportunities to work together to improve health care. We look forward to continuing our discussions.
Statement from South Shore Health Board Chair Ken KirklandIn the midst of an increasingly complex and competitive healthcare environment, South Shore Health periodically reviews opportunities in the market so that we can meet the current and future needs of the community we serve. We have recently engaged in discussions with Wellforce, a health system comprised of community hospitals, academic medicine, several physician organizations and home health agency. Our dialogue has focused on delivering advanced healthcare services in a community setting; working collaboratively with our physicians to control healthcare costs; increasing access to a larger provider network and addressing the industry’s continued shift from volume-based to value-based care. We’ve been here for the last 100 years and we will continue to serve the needs of this community for the next 100 and beyond. We look forward to keeping our community, colleagues and medical staff informed as we continue to discuss the potential for South Shore Health and Wellforce to work together.
About South Shore Health
South Shore Health is a not-for-profit, charitable health system that provides acute care, ambulatory care and home health services to the 700,000 residents of Southeastern Massachusetts. It is the parent organization of South Shore Hospital and South Shore Medical Center, the South Shore Visiting Nurses Association and other non-profit entities.
