Baystate Health and Kindred Healthcare Announce Planned Joint Venture Behavioral Health Hospital In Western MA

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Baystate Health and Kindred Healthcare, LLC announced plans to form a joint venture that will build and operate a $43 million state-of-the-art behavioral health hospital in western Massachusetts.

The new 120-bed facility will address the shortage of behavioral health beds in the region – increasing patient access to Baystate Health’s specialty inpatient behavioral healthcare for adults (including geriatrics), adolescents and children by more than 50%. Kindred will manage day-to-day operations of the hospital, and Baystate Health psychiatrists and advanced practitioners will provide care under the medical leadership of Barry Sarvet, MD, Chair of Psychiatry, Baystate Health.

The hospital will be designed specifically for behavioral health services to foster a better healing environment for patients. The hospital will feature distinct units to meet patients’ varying treatment needs and is expected to employ more than 200 direct caregivers and ancillary staff.

”In building a state-of-the-art behavioral health facility to serve the area’s most vulnerable patients, we recognize that such a major undertaking could not be achieved without a quality partner. Kindred’s strength in building and operating specialty hospitals coupled with Baystate’s behavioral health clinical expertise is the perfect fit. We are looking forward to creating an unparalleled community resource dedicated to the needs of all behavioral health patients,” said Dr. Mark A. Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health.

“Our partnership with Baystate creates a unique opportunity to expand access to high-quality behavioral health services in western Massachusetts,” said Rob Marsh, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Kindred Behavioral Health (“KBH”), “Kindred is a leader in treating medically complex and rehab-intensive patients, leveraging partnerships and innovation to enhance care. Through KBH, we are building upon our existing clinical and operational capabilities to address the unmet need for behavioral health services.”

Baystate Health remains interested in a centrally located Holyoke location and is in discussions with the City of Holyoke regarding the potential acquisition and development of the property on Lower Westfield Road.

It is anticipated that from the time the site is secured, it will be at least two years before the new hospital is operational, pending regulatory and other approvals.

Until the new hospital is completed, Baystate will continue to operate its inpatient behavioral health units at its community hospitals – Baystate Franklin Medical Center, Baystate Noble Hospital and Baystate Wing Hospital. Upon completion of the new facility, these units will be closed.

Emergency care services will continue to be provided at all Baystate Health hospitals, and the treatment of medically complex patients will continue at Baystate Medical Center in its Adult Psychiatric Treatment Unit.

About Baystate Health
Baystate Health is a not-for-profit integrated healthcare system serving over 800,000 people throughout western Massachusetts. Nationally recognized as a leader in healthcare quality and safety, Baystate Health has more than 12,000 employees and serves a diverse population of patients at its teaching hospital, Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, as well as at Baystate Children’s Hospital, its three community hospital, several urban health centers, home care and hospice services, and a network of over 80 medical practices. A leader in medical education for more than a century, Baystate Health along with the University of Massachusetts Medical School recently established the first medical school campus in western Massachusetts call UMMS-Baystate.

About Kindred Healthcare
Kindred Healthcare, LLC is a healthcare services company based in Louisville, Kentucky with annual revenues of approximately $3.2 billion(1). At March 31, 2020, Kindred through its subsidiaries had approximately 31,800 employees providing healthcare services in 1,731 locations in 46 states, including 64 long-term acute care hospitals, 21 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, 10 sub-acute units, 95 inpatient rehabilitation units (hospital-based), contract rehabilitation service businesses which served 1,541 non-affiliated sites of service, and behavioral health services. Ranked as one of Fortune magazine’s Most Admired Healthcare Companies for nine years, Kindred’s mission is to help our patients reach their highest potential for health and healing with intensive medical and rehabilitative care through a compassionate patient experience.