Yale-New Haven Health Systems’ (YNHHS) plan to buy a North Haven sleep disorders center from Gaylord Hospital has raised concerns that the new arrangement will limit access and increase costs for patients.

The North Haven center is one of four sleep centers shuttered by Gaylord Hospital in response to growing financial pressure. The YNHHS decision to acquire the center comes in the wake of the Yale School of Medicine’s (YSM) closure of its own sleep center in New Haven, leaving New Haven residents without an easily accessible facility for those with sleep disorders.

YNHHS will provide the same transportation options to the facility as Gaylord did, said Vincent Petrini, senior vice president of public affairsPetrini said that the change in ownership will have no effect on prices.

At a June 18 hearing on the negotiations, YSM union members expressed concern that the new arrangement will be more expensive for patients than before at YSM’s center.

The purchase follows YNHHS’ recent trajectory of expansion. In September 2012, the organization completed a merger with smaller Saint Raphael’s hospital, making the combined system the fourth largest in the country at the time. On March 6, YNHHS announced that it would partner with Tenet Healthcare Corporation to acquire Waterbury Hospital, Bristol Hospital and the Eastern Connecticut Health Network, which includes Manchester Memorial Hospital and Rockville General Hospital.

HANNAH SCHWARZ