by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | May 13, 2022
Mass General Brigham has secured $2 billion in funding for two hospital projects. (Photo courtesy of Mass General Brigham)
Mass General Brigham can move ahead with projects for two of its hospitals in Boston after securing more than $2 billion in funding from state regulators.
The Public Health Council approved a $150 million plan for an addition and renovations to Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital and a $1.9 billion project to build two new towers at Massachusetts General Hospital,
reported WBUR News.
"The two new buildings at MGH and the addition of new inpatient floors at the Faulkner will significantly enhance our ability to provide the highest level of care for patients, increasing access and enhancing the care experience," MGB President and CEO Dr. Anne Klibanski said in a statement.
The Faulkner project includes the addition of 78 new inpatient beds, while MGB’s expansion would include 94 new beds in one of the towers and the replacement of existing semiprivate beds with private rooms. The proposals are expected to lead to new jobs for thousands of union construction workers and hundreds of permanent healthcare personnel in Boston, as well as improve public transport. "This project will transform our campus with state-of-the-art facilities, expanding access to complex care in cancer and cardiology and adding more single-bed patient rooms," said MGH president Dr. David Brown.
MGB previously had a third project in the works to build ambulatory surgery centers in Westborough, Westwood and Woburn. It
withdrew its plans in April after The Massachusetts Department of Public Health chose not to endorse it.
While the Public Health Council may be on board with the other two projects, the Health Policy Commission is still skeptical over MGB’s spending and has given the healthcare system until May 16 to submit a performance improvement plan for controlling cost growth. It published an analysis in January that the two projects, along with the canceled plans for the ambulatory surgery centers, would lead to higher healthcare spending.
An independent cost analysis was also commissioned to determine the need for these expansions. While Elizabeth Kelley of the Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality says that HPC’s report on costs and market share is believed to be more accurate, “the numbers are small enough that with conditions, the proposed project will not have an appreciable impact on the cost containment goals of the commonwealth, but will have a significant positive impact to public health outcomes and delivery system transformation and therefore, may move forward."
