Partners HealthCare To Consolidate Administrative Staffs In Somerville

Partners HealthCare plans to move 4,500 employees scattered at offices in Wellesley, Needham, Charlestown and Boston to a new office the health care giant plans to design and build in Somerville.

In a memo on Thursday, Partners Executive Vice President Peter Markell explained the plans, saying that near the end of 2016 the company plans to begin moving staff to a single location in the 45-acre Assembly Row mixed use development in Somerville.

Partners has been exploring plans to consolidate administrative staffs currently spread out at 14 locations to save money and make it easier for staff to communicate.

Markell touted the Somerville site’s advantages in his memo.

“A new Assembly Row T stop on the Orange Line presently under construction will be right at our front door,” he wrote. “The Assembly Row location also offers direct access to bike and walking paths, a 6-acre riverfront park; many of the stores, restaurants and apartments will be open by the Spring of 2014.”

The Boston Globe reported Friday that Partners’ plans had “infuriated” Boston Mayor Thomas Menino since the outgoing mayor had been urging Partners to centralize operations in Roxbury. “Every time they had a problem, they called me and I was there for them,” Menino said, according to the Globe. “The social conscience has gone out of Partners. This is all about their bottom line.”

Partners will reportedly maintain its corporate headquarters in Boston.