Health Partners New England Acquires Providence Hospital
Changing of the Guard
Mercy Medical Center recently announced it has sold Providence Behavioral Health Hospital to Health Partners New England (HPNE), which will operate the facility under the name MiraVista Behavioral Health and resume operations of the Acute Treatment Service (detoxification), Clinical Stabilization Service (post-detoxification), and outpatient services, including the Intensive Outpatient Program, court-ordered services, and the Opioid Treatment Program without interruption of service.
Additionally, HPNE plans to establish inpatient psychiatric services at the facility, and is currently working with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to acquire licensure to provide up to 84 inpatient beds. The timeline for the opening of these inpatient beds is still being determined.
That would be a turnaround from last spring, when the Holyoke-based hospital announced it would end inpatient psychiatric services for children, adults, and geriatric patients. “While licensed for 74 inpatient psychiatry beds,” the organization noted at the time, “Providence Hospital has regularly operated at less than 60 beds over the past two years due to persistent provider shortages that have now become critical.”
Mercy Medical Center will now assist colleagues who are affected by the sale, where possible, with Trinity transfers, statutory benefits for employment loss, referrals for alternative employment, and further educational opportunities, and through cooperation with MiraVista for those seeking employment with the new owner.
Brightside for Families and Children will continue to provide services to the Western Mass. community under the umbrella of Mercy Medical Center/Trinity Health Of New England. Offices will remain in the former Providence Behavioral Health Hospital building under a lease agreement with HPNE.
This marks a return to the facility and these services for HPNE, which provided certain management services at Providence Behavioral Health Hospital for a three-year period beginning in 2011. In assuming ownership of behavioral-health services at this campus, HPNE brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in behavioral-health service delivery, as well as a record of accomplishment in managing hospital inpatient and outpatient behavioral-health units, programs, and services..
