On Tuesday, December 12, Lawrence General Hospital hosted its Annual Meeting and Dinner to report on and celebrate the many achievements of the past year. This year’s event was held at the Andover Country Club to better accommodate an ever expanding group of friends, supporters, and elected officials invested in Lawrence General and its commitment to providing compassionate, high-quality care for the whole family.
Secretary Marylou Sudders of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services provided the keynote address for the event, observing that community hospitals like Lawrence General are a critical part of the Commonwealth’s answer to the challenges presented by our current health care landscape.
During her remarks Secretary Sudders praised Lawrence General for being an “extraordinary gem” in the broader Massachusetts health care system, committed to innovation and providing the highest quality care. “If you live in Lawrence, Andover, and the surrounding communities—unless there is some extraordinarily complicated medical condition that warrants the need to be in an academic medical center—you have a stellar institution right here,” she said.
The event also included remarks by Debra Rahmin Silberstein, Esq., chair of the Lawrence General Board of Trustees, and Dianne J. Anderson, RN, Lawrence General president and CEO.
Ms. Anderson reported on Lawrence General’s many achievements over the past year, most notably the opening of the Santagati Center for surgery, a leading-edge facility that supports highly complex surgical procedures. Other milestones include the opening of a second building in the Andover Medical Center complex and a new satellite location in Methuen for laboratory services and imaging—both part of a broader strategy to bring services closer to the people served by the hospital.
Lawrence General also earned an “A” in patient safety from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, recognizing the hospital’s deep commitment to keeping patients safe. These and many other subjects were discussed at the meeting.
Lawrence General Hospital is a regional, independent, nonprofit hospital. Serving more than 110,000 of our neighbors annually, Lawrence General ensures access to the high-quality care, the latest technologies, and more than 600 local providers, including primary care and many specialties, delivering caring and personalized treatment.
A designated Level III Trauma Center, Lawrence General has one of the busiest Emergency Departments in Massachusetts, offers a broad range of specialty surgeries in its new Santagati Center for surgery, and leads the region in cardiac care with its highly accredited cardiovascular center. It has clinical affiliations with Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. It offers services from its main campus in Lawrence, as well as from locations in Andover, North Andover, and Methuen, MA, and Salem, NH. For more information, visit www.lawrencegeneral.org.
