Circle Health CEO to meet with Column Blog
George Duncan, left, a member of the Lowell General Hospital board of trustees, discusses the hospital merger with, left to right, Norm Deschene, Lowell General president/CEO, Stephen J. Guimond, Saints’ president/CEO, and Greg Wertheimer, vice chairman of the Saints Board of Trustees at The Sun offices in merger when the merger was initially announced.
Normand Deschene, the CEO of Circle Health, is kind of like a victorious general these days.
The decades-old battle between Lowell General Hospital, which Deschene has overseen since 2003, and Saints Medical Center is finally over, with the two sides having just signed the armistice.
Circle Health is the new corporate entity that will oversee the merged entities of Lowell General and Saints and Saints Medical Center.
Deschene is kind of like Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States who was reponsible for rebuilding Europe following World War II. Truman faced a daunting task, as does Deschene in getting these two previously warring medical facilities functioning as one harmonious unit.
For starters, Deschene has apparently moved his office from the Varnum Avenue campus of Lowell General to Saints. That should send a positive message, particularly to the Saints’ community.
But just imagine the stack of papers on Deschene’s desk, or the number of emails in his in-box. The numbers must be staggering.
The Column Blog is scheduled to interview Deschene Wednesday afternoon. Among the issues that will hopefully be discussed:
• Real estate. The Column Blog posted an item several weeks ago that focused on Lowell General purchasing several Saints’ buildings for $35 million. With the merger now complete, what’s the future of those buildings? What about the Saints’ facility on Bridge Street on the Lowell/Dracut line or the Saints’ womens’ clinic in North Andover.
• Personnel. Lowell General’s acquisition of Saints has already led to the departure of Saints’ CEO for the last few years, Stephen Guimond. But there’s other top management folks at Saints’ who’ve got counterparts at Lowell General. With the health-care dollar being as tight as it is, there is not room for everyone.
• A colleague raised the issue of competition. Competition, and generally lower lost, is generated by competing entities. With Lowell General now having swallowed-up its local competition, will it result in lower health-care costs for thousands of patients in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Lowell General, however, has for years looked past Saints’ and to the big Boston hospitals as its big competitor.
• And what’s going on with Cigna, the health insurance provider. The Column Blog has received several calls from folks worried that Lowell General has apparently severed ties with Cigna, effective Aug. 1.
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July 18, 2012 at 6:35 pm
I have been informed by my primary doctor that she will no longer be able to accept Cigna insurance because the Lowell General network will no longer be accepting the carrier. This means after 25 years with the same caregivers, I have to try to find a primary doctor that will provide the same level of care and understanding that I have received from my current providers. This means my ob/gyn my pulmonary specialist, my children’s primary and any other specialists I have been referred to at Lowell General can no longer see me because of this decision made by a group of people who are supposed to provide compassionate and caring service to its patients.
I can drive to Emerson Hospital, or Southern NH for care, but I would believe many patients rely on public transportation or services to get to the closest hospital in Lowell.
I have to question the reasons behind this decision, and really hope someone is working to correct this situation.
July 19, 2012 at 1:30 pm
When are you posting the interview? I’m curious to read it.