Addison Gilbert gets help from state
BOSTON - As Massachusetts prepares for the implementation of the new health reform law, the state announced new grants to area health providers, including $500,000 to the Northeast Hospital Corp., which owns Addison Gilbert Hospital.
The grants, part of a $38 million package, are targeted for improving medical technology across the state, Timothy Murphy, Health and Human Services secretary, said yesterday.
"With the health care reform upon us, many more people, community health centers and hospitals will need new technology," said Richard Powers, spokesman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
Powers said the reform is particularly critical for community health centers.
"They have been attending the uninsured, and now we want their system to be able to collect co-insurances, deductibles, etc.," he said.
Stephen Laverty, president and CEO of Northeast Hospital Corp., which also includes Beverly Hospital, said the hospital requested $600,000 for emergency services for Gloucester. It also requested $269,000 for technology in support of the behavioral health clinic at Bayridge Hospital in Lynn. A hospital spokesperson declined to comment on how the $500,000 grant the hospital won was going to be spent.
Powers said the grants were based on several factors ranging from the hospital's area of service to their financial health.
"We determined the amount based on the financial health of the institutions," he said.
The providers will receive the funding through the Essential Community Provider Trust Fund in October.