Menino convenes primary care summit

By Stephen Smith, Globe staff

Even as he forges ahead with his battle to prevent CVS Corp. from opening in-store clinics, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino today quietly convened a summit of high-powered medical players to examine what ails primary care in the city.

The meeting at the city's Parkman House included a who's who from Boston's healthcare landscape, including the presidents of three of the city's biggest hospitals: Elaine Ullian from Boston Medical Center, Dr. Gary Gottlieb from Brigham and Women's, and Ellen Zane from Tufts-New England Medical Center. Leaders of community health centers were there, too, along with the in-coming president of the Massachusetts Medical Society and the dean of Boston University's medical school, Dr. Karen Antman.

"We came together not just to talk about a problem that we all know has existed for some time," Menino said in a written statement after the meeting, "we came together in the spirit of creating a thoughtful and coordinated action plan to reduce barriers that limit access to important medical services."

In the next three months, the 40 or so people who attended the meeting will draft recommendations -- both short term and long term -- designed to reduce waiting times for appointments and expand access to urgent-care services.

Last month, Menino blasted a decision by state health authorities that allows CVS and other retailers to open medical clinics inside their stores. He urged the board that sets health policy in the city, the Boston Public Health Commission, to investigate whether it could prevent the clinics from opening.

Executives for the CVS subsidiary MinuteClinic have said they intend to open about 25 clinics in greater Boston before the end of the year, although they have not specified how many will be in Boston.