Changing course, hospital to keep addiction program

BEVERLY — Beverly Hospital has changed course and now says it will keep a mental health and addiction program that it had planned to close.

The outpatient program, which treats about 500 people per year, was scheduled to shut down last month, forcing patients to travel to similar programs in Lynn and Gloucester. But hospital officials changed course after failing to notify the state Department of Public Health of its plan and receiving backlash from alumni of the program.

"After engaging in meaningful conversation with staff, referring providers and program alumni, we have decided to maintain our three existing program sites in Beverly, Lynn and Gloucester," hospital spokesman Chris Murphy said.

Hospital officials had told patients and members of an alumni group in September of their intention to close the program at Beverly Hospital. But after inquiries by The Salem News, DPH said it had not been informed of the plan and that the program could not close until the state reviewed it.

DPH ultimately ruled that the Beverly program could be discontinued because it is not a "substantial part" of the hospital's ambulatory care service. But hospital officials said they reconsidered over the past several weeks and decided to keep it.

"(W)e are eager to implement a thoughtful operational plan to enhance and ultimately expand access to our program in Beverly so that we can continue to provide these vital services," Murphy said.

Gerald Sullivan, a Gloucester resident who attends the alumni program in Beverly, said he was pleased that the program would be retained.

Sullivan wrote letters to hospital officials protesting the original decision to shut down the Beverly program. He said members of the alumni group also contacted U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and Congressman Seth Moulton, and met with state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr.

Tim Biba, a spokesman for Moulton, said his office reached out by phone to hospital officials "to voice the community's concerns" about the future of the partial hospitalization program, as it is called.

"Seth thinks it shouldn't matter if you live in Back Bay or Beverly. Everyone deserves access to great health care options close to home," Biba said. "He's glad Beverly will keep its partial hospitalization program open, and he'll continue working to make sure our community has access to quality, affordable health care."

Patients often use the short-term day program to transition back to the community after being hospitalized. It includes group counseling, case management, a daily psychiatric assessment, family meetings, and a 12-step-oriented recovery program. Alumni of the program also meet on a regular basis at Beverly Hospital.

Hospital officials had planned to consolidate the Beverly program with similar programs at Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester and Bay Ridge Hospital in Lynn. The three hospitals are owned by Beth Israel Lahey Health, the entity formed in March with the merger of Beth Israel and Lahey Health.

Sullivan said the program is an important resource on the North Shore for people struggling with addiction and mental health issues. The three partial hospitalization programs combined are projected to encounter 1,579 patients in fiscal year 2019, according to information provided by the hospital to the Department of Public Health.

Sullivan described the alumni program that he attends as "like family." He also said he might be a candidate to return to the partial hospitalization program to deal with the emotions of his wife being in hospice care with cancer.

"It's pretty comforting to know the program is still there," he said.