Sleep HealthCenters, Brighton, Mass, and Southcoast Hospitals, New Bedford, Mass, have joined forces in the name of better sleep. The two health care providers entered into an affiliation agreement to create a sleep medicine program based in two locations: one a hotel-based diagnostic facility and the other a sleep clinic.

The hotel location opened at the Residence Inn, 181 Faunce Corner Road, North Dartmouth, Mass, on June 18. Each diagnostic bedroom includes a private bath—a big plus for many patients—and comes with all the amenities of the hotel, including a complimentary hot breakfast buffet.

The sleep medicine clinic will be opening later in North Dartmouth and will treat patients with all types of sleep disorders, including insomnia, OSA, narcolepsy, excessive daytime sleepiness, and restless legs syndrome. Services will include medical consultations, treatment options (including CPAP), sleep health education, and follow-up care.

For the nonprofit Southcoast Hospitals Group, the agreement with Sleep HealthCenters allowed it to move its sleep services from a temporary location at Tobey Hospital in Wareham, Mass, to the new location in North Dartmouth. This freed up clinical space at Tobey for the expansion of primary care physician services, which Southcoast said are in high demand in the greater Wareham area. Their employees who previously worked at the Southcoast Sleep Lab at Tobey Hospital remain employees of Southcoast, even though they work at the Sleep HealthCenter in North Dartmouth.

However, the biggest winners in the agreement may be patients. Wareham patients will have more primary care services, and sleep patients from the whole region will have more convenient and comfortable sleep medicine testing and treatment. “This partnership between Southcoast and Sleep HealthCenters will continue to ensure that all our patients get the highest level of sleep medicine services at a location that is convenient for more of our patients,” said Peter Guresh, vice president of Allied Health Services for Southcoast Hospitals Group.

Arun B. Rajan, MD, director of sleep medicine services at Southcoast Hospitals Group, is the new medical director of the Residence Inn center. “Southcoast’s affiliation with Sleep HealthCenters helps us provide continued comprehensive services and the latest technology to our patients,” he said. “Locating the clinic at the Residence Inn helps provide a more comfortable and convenient setting for patients throughout our region.”

Recognition of the need for better sleep health is growing in Massachusetts, as it is in many other states, and Paul S. Valentine, CEO and president of Sleep HealthCenters, viewed the agreement as an opportunity to better meet the resulting demand for sleep medicine services. “This exciting affiliation will bring a state-of-the-art, comprehensive sleep medicine program to the South Coast region,” he said. “We look forward to working with the medical, technical, and administrative staff at Southcoast Hospitals Group to provide high-quality patient care to those individuals who need our services.”