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PARTNERS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, INC . In 1994 the Partners HealthCare System, Inc. (PHS) was established as the corporation overseeing the affiliation of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, its founding members. Since then, two acute care hospitals, the North Shore Medical Center, Inc. and the Newton-Wellesley Hospital, have become full members of Partners. The Partners hospitals continue to be committed to the original goals: to create an integrated health care system that would offer the highest quality, most comprehensive services in the Boston area; to keep quality high while reducing costs; to maintain sufficient patient volume to support clinical research and teaching activities. Partners has become the largest health care system in New England and the leading care provider in many area communities. The increase in patient volume has been accomplished through the development of new services (e.g., obstetrics at MGH, expanded oncology at BWH) and through improved links with community health centers, physicians and hospitals. Research activity has also grown at the Partners hospitals over the past five years, at an average rate of more than ten percent per year. This rate is approximately double the overall growth rate of NIH grants during the same period. BWH and MGH are still the two largest NIH grant recipients in the country among independent hospitals. In 1998 Partners invested more than $100 million in community benefit programs to: provide medical care to more than 30,000 uninsured and underinsured patients; improve the health of low income pregnant and parenting women and their children; and build health, educational and employment partnerships with area communities and schools. During the past five years, BWH and MGH increased the number of patients served by affiliated neighborhood health centers to 68,000. Collaborations with other nearby health centers have expanded medical services for another 120,000 patients. Partners Community HealthCare, Inc. (PCHI) was established three years ago, and now has more than 900 community physician members. In 1998 PCHI began offering a comprehensive disease management program that creates a standard of care for patients suffering from such chronic diseases as arthritis, coronary heart disease and gastrointestinal disease. Partners HealthCare statistics for 1998 include:
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