CVS expanding into primary care with Mass General Brigham partnership

Massachusetts is experiencing a serious primary care shortage. A state hospital and pharmacy want to help tackle the ongoing issue. 22 News Statehouse reporter Olivia Ray has how health care professionals are trying to bridge the gap between supply and demand. Mass General Brigham, the hospital system that owns Cooley Dickinson in Hadley, is teaming up with CVS Pharmacy to address the Bay State's primary care crisis. Mass General and CVS Minute Clinic filed paperwork with state regulators asking to team up via clinical affiliation to give more Massachusetts residents access to primary care. In the Bay State, 41% of residents report having trouble accessing primary care and wait times are more than twice as long as they are in neighboring states. If the Mass General and CVS partnership is approved, MGB patients could receive in-network care at Minute Clinic, and non-MGB Minute Clinic patients would have increased access to MGB hospitals, specialists, and services. According to a CVS statement, quote, many of the patients we see at Minute Clinic either don't have a primary care provider or have not seen one in years. If clinical affiliation with Mass General Brigham is approved, patients will have greater access to primary and preventative care services. Minute Clinic has 37 locations in the Bay State, including 10 in Western Massachusetts and about 80 advanced practice providers, and most are located within CVS stores. Minute Clinic already offers in-network adult primary care in 10 states and DC, including in Connecticut. The Massachusetts regulatory body in charge of approving or denying the clinical affiliation proposal will conduct a 30-day review process once Mass General and CVS submit additional paperwork. Working for you from the Statehouse in Boston, I'm Olivia Wray, 22 News.