LYNN — The public will get another chance to let executives know they want to keep Union Hospital open.
The session, the second in three months, will be Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Franco American War Veterans Hall on Western Avenue.
The hearing continues the discussion of the Lynn Emergent/Urgent Care Planning Group with residents, and gives them an opportunity to share feedback.
Last year, the Department of Public Health approved a $180 million expansion of North Shore Medical Center (NSMC) that will close Union and move the beds to a new Salem campus in 2019. The medical facilities in Lynn and Salem are a part of Partners HealthCare.
In July, a packed crowd urged NSMC executives to figure out a way to keep Union Hospital open.
Dr. David J. Roberts, NSMC’s president, has made the case for closing the facility by citing data that only 14 percent of the Union patients seen in 2015 needed critical care such as treatment for a heart attack or a stroke. Another 31 percent of the patients could have been seen at so-called Minute Clinics operated by retailers for minor complaints such as sore throats, he said.
But residents insist a city of 92,000 should have its own hospital and not have to travel to Salem for care.
The committee has discussed three options to serve the community following the shuttering of Union, including offering a satellite treatment facility outside of a hospital, an urgent care center and walk-in clinics.
