State adopts limits on hospital expansions

By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff

The state Public Health Council voted unanimously today to make it harder for Boston's teaching hospitals to extend their reach into the suburbs, where community hospitals feel under siege by their powerful rivals.

Members of the panel said that rules drafted by the Patrick administration hold the promise of making health planning in the state more rational.

"I do believe it is an unequal playing field now, and we're driving healthcare to more and more expensive environments," said Dr. Alan Woodward, a member of the council, which sets health policy in the state.

State health authorities expressed concern about the spread of academic medical centers, arguing that their expansion threatens local hospitals and may make healthcare more expensive. Studies have shown that while teaching hospitals frequently charge more, that does not uniformly translate into better outcomes for patients.

"We cannot continue to let market forces determine where certain things are placed," said Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, secretary of health and human services in the administration of Governor Deval Patrick.

At today's meeting of the council, comments were not taken from hospitals or interest groups. Instead, their perspectives were aired at an earlier public hearing and through letters submitted to the Department of Public Health. In those letters, major hospital groups were measured in their reaction, choosing to criticize specific aspects of the regulations while not condemning them overall.