Care system Public | Phone +1 617-665-1000 | |
Hospital type Academic Teaching, Community Emergency department 24-hour emergency care at three locations Founded 1996, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Similar Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge Health Alliance, American Health Society, Dr Timothy N Stephens, Somerville Surgical Associates Profiles | ||
Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) is a healthcare provider in Cambridge, Somerville and Boston’s metro-north communities in Massachusetts. CHA advertises services including primary care, specialty care and mental health/substance use services. It includes three hospital campuses, primary care and specialty practice facilities, and the Cambridge Public Health Dept. CHA maintains an affiliation with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. CHA is a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate and is also affiliated with Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Tufts University School of Medicine.
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Locations
CHA includes three main hospital campuses, primary care and specialty practices, and the Cambridge Public Health Department. The three CHA hospital campuses are Cambridge Hospital, Somerville Hospital, and Everett Hospital.
In addition to the three hospital campuses, CHA has locations in Cambridge, Somerville, Malden, Revere, and Everett.
History
Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) was created in 1996 when the city-owned Cambridge Hospital merged with private, nonprofit Somerville Hospital. In 2001, Hallmark Health sold the Whidden Hospital to Cambridge Health Alliance. In 2016, the name of Whidden Hospital was changed to CHA Everett Hospital. All three hospitals were founded around the turn of the 20th century, with Somerville Hospital being the oldest.
In 2013 Cambridge Health Alliance became affiliated with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. In 2014 its physicians joined BIDCO the Beth Israel Deaconess Care Organization.
Community Programs
The CEO of Cambridge Health Alliance serves as commissioner of public health for the city of Cambridge. Since the system was created in 1996, it has operated the Cambridge Public Health Department through a contract with the city.
CHA is an affiliate of the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children.
Research
As an Employer
CHA employs approximately 3,500 staff members in Cambridge, Everett, Malden, Medford, Revere, and Somerville, Massachusetts. 65% of CHA's staff are unionized. As of 2013, more than 40% of CHA staff (1,600+) live within the area of Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Revere, Somerville, and Winthrop.
Financial Troubles
For its 2017 fiscal year, the organization is expected to improve its operations and projects a surplus of $500,000 for the year. However, due to the struggling organization's reliance on state and government support and a recent de-emphasis on growth, this surplus came at the cost of layoffs and voluntary resignations in 2016. Further complicating their fiscal outlook was the vetoing of a bill by the state governor in July 2016 which would have provided much needed financial support during this time of decreased patient volume.
As of April 11, 2014, the organization has posted a loss of $21.5 million for fiscal year 2013. This is in contrast to their projected loss of $19 million for 2013.
Previously, the system was noted to have lost $28.5 million on health care operations based on the financial report released for their fiscal year of 2012, and had a reported loss of $36.9 million in 2011. It was also penalized in 2012 for failing to meet quality and patient satisfaction standards set by the federal government, and for having too many Medicare patient readmissions within 30 days of being discharged. When asked about the 2012 report, the Chief Financial Officer at the time Gordon Boudrow was quoted as saying, “Our weakness is driven from serving a high proportion of low-income and uninsured patients for which reimbursements are poor.”