Baystate Health is a not-for-profit health care system headquartered in Springfield, MA and serves western Massachusetts. The system has 4 hospitals, over 80 medical practices, and 25 reference laboratories. With 10,000 employees including 1,600 physicians, Baystate Health is one of Western Massachusetts largest employers .

History

(1974-1983)

In 1974, Springfield Hospital Medical Center merged with its neighbor, Wesson Women’s Hospital, to create the 672-bed Medical Center of Western Massachusetts. In 1976, the Medical Center of Western Massachusetts merged with Wesson Memorial Hospital, located about two miles away. The merger established Baystate Medical Center, then the second-largest hospital in New England, with 1,036 beds.

In 1983, Baystate Medical Center was reorganized into three separate corporations: Baystate Health Systems, the parent corporation now renamed Baystate Health; Baystate Medical Center; and a for-profit corporation known as Baystate Diversified Health Services. The reorganization provided a legal framework for developing a future multi-institutional health care system and for reducing the assets that would be encumbered with the financing of a major new hospital building.

(1986-2004)

The Baystate Health family has grown significantly since its inception. In 1986, Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield joined Baystate Health; in 1991, Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware joined the health system. In 1996, the Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice of Pioneer Valley, now renamed the Baystate Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice, became a member of Baystate Health. Throughout these years of growth, new and established BH member corporations have worked together to balance the needs of specific sites and the efficiencies of centralized and integrated services.

To this end, a major corporate restructuring in 1997 reduced the number of governing boards across BH from twenty-one to six. This restructuring was initiated to streamline decision-making and more closely integrate services across the continuum of care. And on January 1, 2004, the governance structure of Baystate Health was further simplified with the establishment of a single board of trustees for Baystate Health that also serves as mirror boards for its patient care entities that had previously been governed by a separate board.

Components of Baystate Health

Baystate Children's Hospital

Located on the campus of Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, Baystate Children’s Hospital, with 110 beds and 57 bassinets , provides complete critical care programs, including the region’s only Pediatric Intensive Care and Neonatal Intensive Care Units . Baystate Children’s Hospital also includes pediatric inpatient services, child life specialists, an emergency room just for kids, and outpatient specialty services.

Baystate Franklin Medical Center

Baystate Franklin Medical Center is a 90-bed , tax-exempt, not-for-profit hospital located in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1895, BFMC provides medical, surgical, obstetric, pediatric, psychiatric and behavioral health inpatient care, as well as outpatient services. The hospital has an innovative inpatient program that combines medical and behavioral health services. In collaboration with the University of Massachusetts, hospital staff embarked in 2003 on the creation of a Healing Environment throughout the hospital. With 900 employees, BFMC is the only hospital in Franklin County and has a strong tradition of serving the rural communities within its service area and bringing appropriate specialized services to the community.

Baystate Mary Lane Hospital

Baystate Mary Lane Hospital located in Ware, Massachusetts, is a 31-bed , tax-exempt, not-for-profit hospital, providing medical, surgical, pediatric, obstetric, emergency, outpatient, and adult day care services. Founded in 1909 by the Ware Visiting Nurse Association, the hospital has a long tradition of providing high-quality services to communities in Western and Central Massachusetts. The hospital was renamed Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in 2006.

Baystate Medical Center

Baystate Medical Center is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit hospital located in Springfield, Massachusetts. With 653 licensed beds and more than 4,000 employees , BMC serves as the tertiary care referral center for the region. It has the area’s only neonatal intensive care unit, the region’s level 1 trauma center with pediatric designation, an adult cardiac surgery service with the region’s only open heart surgery program, and a kidney transplantation program.

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