Hospital plan to undergo re-examination

North Shore Medical Center will “reevaluate” its options with regard to its plans for Union Hospital in the wake of a recent court ruling that dealt a blow to an expansion plan proposed by Partners, its parent company, according to a hospital spokesman.”From the beginning of this process, our goal has been to provide a more efficient, effective and lower cost system of care to local residents. Our objectives have not changed, so our goal now is to reevaluate our options on how to achieve them,” North Shore Medical Center spokesman Kevin Ronningen said in a statement.Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders last week rejected a settlement negotiated with former state Attorney General Martha Coakley to allow Partners to expand south of Boston and in northeastern Massachusetts.In her ruling, Sanders questioned the agreement’s enforceability and said the settlement would have helped Partners “…exact higher prices from insurers?”A Partners spokeswoman told Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce members last December the company would push ahead with planned changes at Union even if a judge rejected the firm’s regional expansion plan.State Sen. Thomas M. McGee said Sanders’ ruling must be weighed against Partners’ November 2013 statements outlining plans to move surgical services from Union Hospital to Salem Hospital and move psychiatric services from two hospitals to Union.Along with fellow legislators and the Lynn-based Save Union Hospital advocacy group, McGee wrote letters in 2014 to Sanders opposing the Partners-Coakley settlement and specifically criticizing Partners’ Union Hospital plan.Save Union members met this week and group founder Katerina Panagiotakis said the group’s “next focus” is to circulate a petition calling for a City Council hearing focused on Union Hospital.”We will hopefully have a filled auditorium,” Panagiotakis said.The group also wants to meet with North Shore Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Robert Norton, who appeared previously before the council to discuss Partners’ plans.