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MILTON, Mass. - South Shore residents will have access to additional high quality health care services as a result of an affiliation agreement signed Tuesday between Milton Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.  The agreement calls for Milton Hospital and BIDMC to operate joint clinical programs using resources from both institutions to bring new and expanded high quality services to Milton and surrounding towns. Already, preliminary agreements for this formal affiliation have resulted in gerontology, emergency cardiac transfer, and prostate cancer treatment programs at Milton Hospital, as well as the planned launch of hand surgery and obstetrics / gynecology programs in the next few months. The programs will be staffed by Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at BIDMC. In addition, the two institutions have jointly recruited a new Vice President of Medical Affairs at Milton Hospital to ensure consistency between standards at BIDMC and Milton Hospital for patient safety and quality outcomes. "This clinical affiliation agreement has the effect of bringing the expertise and services of a major teaching hospital to our local community," Richard P. Ward, Chairman of the Milton Hospital Board observed. "This joint initiative between a community hospital and a teaching hospital assures that new quality clinical programs will be available locally," Ward said. Lois E. Silverman, chairman of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center board of directors, added, "BIDMC and Milton are committed to providing South Shore residents expanded healthcare services that meet the highest quality standards." At the center of the quality initiatives that characterize the expanded affiliation is Joseph Raduazzo, M.D., who was recruited jointly and began serving as Milton's new vice president of medical affairs in June 2005. He oversees quality management, risk management, infection control and patient advocacy. Raduazzo also works closely with medical staff leadership both at Milton Hospital and at BIDMC to develop and maintain high-quality clinical programs using the combined resources of both institutions. Representatives from Milton and BIDMC will soon sit on quality committees at both institutions.  The agreement calls for the introduction of a number of joint clinical programs over time:· The two hospitals have already introduced a prostate seed program to treat patients with prostate cancer. · BIDMC orthopedic hand surgeons Charles S. Day, M.D., and Tamara Rozental, M.D., will be overseeing hand surgery in Milton, and Dr. Rozental is expected to begin performing surgeries in Milton this month. · Sandra Dayaratna, M.D., a BIDMC obstetrician/gynecologist, will relocate her practice to Milton in January. She will follow pregnancies and perform gynecological surgery at Milton Hospital, and deliver babies at BIDMC. The affiliation agreement builds on a relationship that began in 2003 when the two institutions introduced a joint geriatrics program and a cardiac rapid transport service. The Milton-BIDMC geriatrics program improved communication and links between seniors and the health care system and enhanced the quality of care provided to the significant population of elderly citizens in the community, including those in local nursing homes, in senior housing/assisted living residences and in their own homes. The program is led by Virginia Cummings, M.D., director of long-term care at BIDMC and a member of the faculty of Harvard Medical School. Cardiologists at both hospitals collaborated on the development of the Cardiac Rapid Transfer program, which provides emergency cardiac patients with a smooth transition to BIDMC, home of Boston's only all-digital cardiac catheterization laboratory for patients undergoing coronary angiography, angioplasty, stent placement and other cardiac procedures. "Our established combined programs have significantly strengthened the quality of care offered at Milton Hospital, particularly in the terms of emergency care and geriatrics," said Joseph V. Morrissey, president and chief executive officer of Milton Hospital. "Our collaboration also provides Milton Hospital patients with expedited access, when needed, to BIDMC physicians and services in all specialties." Paul F. Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, added, "This affiliation agreement is unique in the Boston area because of the balance it strikes between institutional independence on the one hand and tight alignment in quality and clinical programs on the other." Under the expanded agreement, BIDMC will appoint two representatives to sit on Milton's Board of Trustees. All Milton Hospital chiefs of service, as well as the chair of Milton's Quality Improvement Committee, will be appointed to the BIDMC medical staff. A majority of primary care physicians and many specialists at Milton Hospital plan to join Beth Israel Deaconess Physician Organization, an entity that manages physicians' contracts with health insurers.  Milton Hospital has 250 physicians on staff, representing primary care and many medical specialties. The 113-bed community hospital offers affiliated programs with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and provides a wide range of inpatient and outpatient specialties to Milton, Quincy, Randolph, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Canton and Braintree.Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, ranking fourth in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. The medical center is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a research partner of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. |
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