HOLLIS — Beth Israel Lahey Health and Exeter Health Resources have agreed to a six-month pause of planned closures of five medical services while the state investigates whether these changes violate a court-approved merger agreement, Attorney General John Formella said Wednesday. Executive Councilor Janet Stevens, R-Rye, said the AG’s announcement has also blocked the plans of Exeter Health Resources to close its maternity ward and to abandon its commitment to build a 12-unit or designated receiving facility (DRF) for psychiatric patients. Both were spelled out in the June 2023 court-approved merger that called for spending $375 million in service expansions at Exeter over the first six years of the merger, Stevens said.
“I’m hopeful we have stopped those two changes from ever taking place,” Stevens said. Last week, the Union Leader first reported Exeter Health Resources’ decision to close Core Physicians practices in podiatry, neurology and pediatric dentistry as of Oct. 11, along with plans to end its allergy-immunology program.
Formella said during the six-month pause, hospital management can present a “transition plan” for programs targeted for closure to direct patients to other providers, while the state evaluates whether the changes comply with the approved merger agreements. For example, Stevens said the pediatric dentistry staff has declared it has plans to leave Exeter and to set up their own independent practice. The allergist has already left and j.
