LAWRENCE, MA – Steward Health Care and Lawrence General Hospital today announced a new clinical affiliation agreement between Lawrence General Hospital and Steward’s St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton and Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill and Methuen to benefit patients by enhancing coordinated primary and specialty medical services. For residents of the Greater Merrimack Valley area, the partnership will expand access to medical care at the local level at a sustainable cost and reflects both Steward Health Care and Lawrence General Hospital’s commitment to providing high-quality care to local communities. Each of the three hospitals will retain its independence in governance and decision-making while sharing provider resources and clinical expertise in the service of excellent care for patients in the communities where they live. 
 
“The heart of this new relationship is our three hospitals’ mutual commitment to community-based medicine,” said Harrison Bane, President, North Region for Steward Health Care. “The partnership between Lawrence General Hospital and Steward’s family of community hospitals will enhance the Merrimack Valley’s ability to receive high-quality medical services locally. Our goal is to provide high quality care that is both affordable for residents and easy to access.”
  
“We’re excited that this affiliation will allow us to strengthen and expand primary and specialty care in the Merrimack Valley,” said Deborah J. Wilson, President and CEO of Lawrence General Hospital. “This network affiliation will focus on high value care delivered by high quality institutions.”
 
Through the agreement, the three hospitals will work to provide patients with greater access to specialty care, with St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center’s nationally ranked medical services serving as the preferred tertiary and quaternary partner for patients with complex and highly specialized needs. St. Elizabeth’s recently opened its doors to two new, state-of-the-art, units: a 10 bed intensive care unit (ICU) and a 16 bed medical-surgical stepdown unit as part of a $100 million investment in new facilities and infrastructure improvements. Today’s partnership announcement promises to continue investment in services available to the community.
 
Further, Lawrence General, St. Elizabeth’s, and Holy Family will collaborate on provider recruitment and retention to ensure the Greater Merrimack Valley has ready access to primary care physicians and specialists and will explore participation in alternative payment arrangements that foster coordinated care and accountability for quality and cost. 
 
About Steward Health Care
 
Nearly a decade ago, Steward Health Care System emerged as a different kind of health care company designed to usher in a new era of wellness. One that provides our patients better, more proactive care at a sustainable cost, our providers unrivaled coordination of care, and our communities greater prosperity and stability. 
 
As the country’s largest physician-led, tax paying, integrated health care system, our doctors can be certain that we share their interests and those of their patients. Together we are on a mission to revolutionize the way health care is delivered - creating healthier lives, thriving communities and a better world. 
 
Steward is among the nation’s largest and most successful accountable care organizations (ACO), with more than 5,500 providers and 43,000 health care professionals who care for 12.3 million patients a year through a closely integrated network of hospitals, multispecialty medical groups, urgent care centers, skilled nursing facilities and behavioral health centers.  
 
Based in Dallas, Steward currently operates 39 hospitals across Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah.
 
For more information, visit www.steward.org.  
 
About Lawrence General Hospital
 
As an independent, not-for-profit hospital serving the Merrimack Valley, Lawrence General provides access to high-quality care, the latest technologies, and a growing network of local providers, including primary care and many specialties. A designated Level III Trauma Center, Lawrence General Hospital has one of the busiest Emergency Departments in Massachusetts, offers a broad range of specialty services and leads the region in cardiac care with Massachusetts’ most highly accredited cardiovascular center. With more than 12,000 inpatient discharges per year, 1,400 births, and a dedicated team of more than 2,000 employees, Lawrence General has proudly served the region since 1875 and is a major acute care provider of emergency, surgical, medical, maternity and newborn care in the City of Lawrence.

The Hospital had previously had a clinical affiliation with Beth Israel Lahey Health.  
 
For more information, visit www.LawrenceGeneral.org.