Westmed Medical Group now part of VillageMD healthcare conglomerate

Westmed Medical Group, a regional medical provider that is just a step below a full-service hospital system, has seen its ownership change once again.

On Jan. 18, 2022, Westmed’s physicians, staff, and patients (many of whom are residents of Port Chester and Rye Brook) were told they were being merged with CityMD (a major chain of storefront walk-in emergency medical stores), part of Summit Health.

The Summit Health-CityMD merger of August 2019 created some 2,800 providers across 370 locations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Central Oregon.

On Jan. 9, 2023, the health industry online newsletter Recycle Intelligence reported that “VillageMD has finalized its $8.9 billion acquisition of Summit Health-CityMD, creating one of the largest independent provider groups in the country.

VillageMD announced in November 2022 that it had entered a definitive agreement to acquire the primary, specialty, and urgent care provider organization. The $8.9 billion transaction included investments from Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. and Evernorth, Cigna Corporation’s health services business.”

On its web page (www.westmedgroup.com), Westmed, while acknowledging it is part of Summit Health, still proclaims that it is “staffed by a team of 500 top physicians and advanced care providers and 1,500 clinical employees, throughout our thirteen office locations in Westchester County, NY, and Fairfield County, CT.”

No mention is made of the new VillageMD ownership.

How those physicians, employees, and patients react to being part of a massive health care industry consolidation, and whether the quality of individual care will be affected, are all questions yet to be answered.  

One notable change so far: calls to local physicians’ offices that used to be answered by a USA based call center are now answered in Bogota, Colombia.