Steward grabs another Mass. physician practice

By PBN Staff

BOSTON – Steward Health Care System has added another doctor group to its Massachusetts network, increasing its reach and putting pressure on competing health care provider groups, according to the Boston Globe.

The Globe reported that Compass Medical, a group with 90 doctors in eight offices from Braintree to Taunton, is leaving Partners HealthCare, a network that includes Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s hospitals.

A month earlier, Steward had signed up Whittier Independent Practice Association, a practice with 150 doctors that was aligned with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

According to the story, the Compass physicians are switching networks “because they want to better coordinate patient care with community hospitals.”

Steward is awaiting approval by Rhode Island regulators of its purchase of Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, which has been under the protection of a court-appointed receiver for three years.