Lynn hospital feeling the hurt

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/2015/10/lynn_hospital_feeling_the_hurt



CLOSING CONCERNS: State Rep. Bradley H. Jones Jr. (R-North Reading), left, along with Mary Stewart and Katerina Panagiotakis of the Save Union Hospital group speak to Herald Radio yesterday.

Lynn hospital feeling the hurt
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Zuri Berry

A community group and its political allies are lashing out at Partners HealthCare for its plan to close Union Hospital in Lynn and consolidate health services on the North Shore.

Save Union Hospital, a group formed after Partners announced its intentions to consolidate medical facilities in a $200 million cost-cutting move while boosting Salem Hospital, is asking the hospital operator to consider the impact of servicing a large swath of area that includes Lynn, Lynnfield, Salem and parts of Saugus.

“If Union Hospital closes down, the other hospitals around it are going to get even busier,” said state Rep. Donald Wong (R-Saugus), who is aligned with the Save Union Hospital group.

“If you really look at the map, Union Hospital is centrally located,” Wong said on Boston Herald Radio yesterday. “There’s no other hospital really that close. Once you take that out of the picture, it’s going to be time consuming to get to any other hospital. Seconds and minutes mean a life.”