Framingham, MA, hospital ends Beth Israel affiliation plan

Six months after agreeing to pursue a broad-based affiliation with Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham, MA, has decided to scrap the plan. The move reflects the ambivalence of some suburban hospitals about aligning with Boston's teaching hospitals at a time of general industry consolidation. Such ties give smaller hospitals access to specialists and advanced clinical programs, but also can mean a loss of independence as large hospitals seek to impose their own practices on smaller partners, according to the Boston Globe.