Is Partners HealthCare charting a new course? I'm quoted

I'm quoted in today's front page Boston Globe article (Partners HealthCare chief met a trail of resistance), which dissects the tenure of outgoing Partners CEO, Gary Gottlieb. It should be no surprise that the continued expansion of the biggest and strongest healthcare system in Massachusetts under Gottlieb has led to friction and controversy.The reporter asked me about whether a new CEO would change the company's strategy. Here's what I said:

Partners executives have said bolstering their network of hospitals is critical to coordinating patient care and keeping costs in check through more efficient care. Gottlieb’s successor and Partners’ board will have to decide whether to stick with that approach.“The broad expansion, it’s not obvious that they need to do that,” said David E. Williams, president of Health Business Group, a Boston consulting firm. “Partners doesn’t need to expand at all and it would still be the biggest and strongest in the state.”

I suggested that Partners could decide to go back to its roots as a world-renowned academic medical center with its Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. There are other ways to coordinate care and control costs besides owning community hospitals and physician practices.---By healthcare business consultant David E. Williams of the Health Business Group