{"id":322937,"date":"2026-03-10T19:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T19:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/322937\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T19:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T19:41:13","slug":"dana-farber-cancer-institute-and-brigham-and-womens-hospital-cooperate-on-physician-assistants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/322937\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital cooperate on physician assistants"},"content":{"rendered":"

The meetings came after Dana-Farber told staff the Brigham planned to stop using its physician assistants starting in April<\/a>, leaving their employment status uncertain. Now, the joint email said, the hospitals were working together, and the PAs don\u2019t have to worry. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result of these conversations, Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital has agreed to rescind the previously issued notice while our organizations engage in further discussions,\u201d the email said. <\/p>\n

The organizations went on to note that they were working to develop a \u201cmutually acceptable and coordinated plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tensions between the two organizations have been heightened ever since Dana-Farber announced in 2023<\/a> that it would walk away from its longstanding relationship with Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital to forge a new partnership with Brigham\u2019s competitor, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The decision quickly reverberated through the health care market, but the move itself was expected to play out over years \u2014 the contract between the hospitals would end in 2028. The new cancer hospital Dana-Farber was building wouldn\u2019t even be completed until 2031. <\/p>\n

Recently, though, things have grown more awkward, with Dana-Farber emailing staff to say that the Brigham planned to imminently phase out<\/a> Dana-Farber physician assistants, with all of them gone by the end of the year. It was unclear how many physician assistants would be affected, or if Dana-Farber was providing job stability. <\/p>\n

Around the same time, MGB emailed the physician assistants to offer them jobs at its own cancer institute, saying, \u201cWe want you on our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

MGB later contested the timeline put forth by Dana-Farber, saying that though Brigham would stop using Dana-Farber\u2019s physician assistants eventually, the timeline had not yet been finalized. <\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople crossed the bridge to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston in 2021.Craig F. Walker\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

The tit for tat continued after MGB\u2019s offer. Dana-Farber emailed its staff, guaranteeing the physician assistants employment throughout the transition and into the opening of the future cancer hospital. <\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one thing any divorcing couple knows, it\u2019s that the kids really shouldn\u2019t get caught in the middle. The two sides seem to be taking that approach, letting bygones be bygones as they have returned to the table to figure out a long-term plan for staff and services. <\/p>\n

In their joint email to staff, Dana-Farber and MGB said their new approach would prioritize stability for the physician assistant workforce and an orderly transition process.<\/p>\n

In response to Globe questions, the two sides\u2019 press teams put on a united front and issued a joint statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cBoth organizations continue to place the continuity of high-quality patient care at the forefront of every decision,\u201d the statement said, \u201cso we can deliver the outstanding patient-centered care patients and families depend on.\u201d <\/p>\n

They added they were doing their best to \u201cmanage a multifaceted transition over the next approximately two and a half years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether slow and strategic or frenetic and fraught, the unwinding of the two organizations is bound to be complicated. <\/p>\n

For decades, Dana-Farber patients received outpatient care, including chemotherapy infusions, at Dana-Farber, but inpatient care at Brigham and Women\u2019s. Dana-Farber physicians provided oncology care to patients while they were at the Brigham, while Brigham doctors provided surgical oncology, radiation oncology therapy, radiology, and pathology services. The two hospitals have worked together so closely that they are even connected by a bridge over the street. <\/p>\n

Though the organizations are now cooperating as they disentangle themselves, MGB has begun ramping up its own cancer care efforts, with the opening of a new inpatient oncology unit. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Beth Israel Lahey Health plans to decommission the Joslin Diabetes Center building, which is on the site where Dana-Farber plans to build the cancer hospital, in April, with construction to follow. <\/p>\n

Jessica Bartlett can be reached at jessica.bartlett@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her @ByJessBartlett<\/a>.<\/p>\n