Mass General Brigham PANS/PANDAS doctor to leave as program closes

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

Mass General Brigham plans to close its PANS/PANDAS program at the end of 2026. Now one of the few psychiatrists who treats those children there, Dr. Kyle Williams, is leaving the hospital system at the same time, Boston.com reported on Nov. 2.

The program began in 2013 and had logged more than 3,000 patient visits by 2024, according to a fundraising email the Boston Globe obtained. Fewer than 10 clinics nationwide diagnose and treat the conditions, according to the PANDAS Physicians Network.

Why it matters

Families whose children develop sudden, severe psychiatric symptoms after an infection lose the region's coordinated clinic and one of its few specialists.

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Key Indicators

2013

Year the program began

Mass General Brigham's PANS/PANDAS program has run for more than a decade.

3,000+

Patient visits logged by 2024

Figure comes from a fundraising email the Boston Globe obtained.

1,500+

New patient evaluations by 2024

Same fundraising email, as reported by the Globe.

Fewer than 10

Multidisciplinary PANS/PANDAS clinics nationwide

Count from the PANDAS Physicians Network.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

People Involved

Dr. Kyle Williams

Psychiatrist at Mass General Brigham treating pediatric PANS/PANDAS patients

Leaving the hospital system at the end of 2026

Organizations Involved

Mass General Brigham

Hospital system

Closing its PANS/PANDAS program at the end of 2026

Massachusetts' largest hospital system and the operator of the PANS/PANDAS program now being wound down.

Massachusetts PANDAS/PANS Advisory Council

State advisory body

Asked state officials to review the closure and transition plan

A council housed in the state Department of Public Health that advises on PANDAS and PANS policy.

Massachusetts Attorney General's Office

State agency

Received a complaint from patient advocates about the closure

The state's top law enforcement office, which advocates asked to review whether the closure amounts to patient abandonment.

PANDAS Physicians Network

Clinician network

Tracks the small number of clinics treating the conditions

A network of clinicians that maintains a list of multidisciplinary PANDAS/PANS clinics.

Timeline

2013 November 2026

6 events Latest: Today

Tap a bar to jump to that date

November 2026
Treating psychiatrist to leave
Today Personnel

Boston.com reports Dr. Kyle Williams will leave the hospital system at the end of the year.
Today
Advocates file complaint with attorney general
Legal

The complaint raises concerns about access to treatment and possible patient abandonment.
November 2026
State advisory council requests review
Oversight

The PANDAS/PANS Advisory Council asks officials to examine the closure and transition plan.
November 2026
2026
Hospital system announces closure
Closure

Mass General Brigham says it will end the program at the end of the year, citing a lack of multidisciplinary services.
2026
2024
Program logs 3,000-plus visits
Milestone

A fundraising email obtained by the Boston Globe says the program had completed more than 1,500 new patient evaluations.
2024
2013
Program opens
Program launch

Mass General Brigham begins offering coordinated psychiatric and medical care for children with PANS and PANDAS.
2013

Scenarios

Program closes on schedule with no replacement clinic

Likely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Patient families and advocates quoted in Boston-area coverage

The program stops seeing patients at the end of 2026 and current patients are routed to general child psychiatry, infectious disease and primary care. No Massachusetts health system opens a comparable multidisciplinary clinic, and families travel out of state or pay out of pocket.

State review forces a delay or a written transition plan

Possible Resolves by Q1 2027

Discussed by: Massachusetts PANDAS/PANS Advisory Council and patient advocates

The attorney general's office or the Department of Public Health opens a formal review of the closure, prompting the hospital system to extend the timeline or commit to a documented handoff for each patient. Advocates have asked for exactly this.

Williams keeps treating PANS/PANDAS patients elsewhere

Uncertain Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Families following the departure, per Boston.com

Williams joins another hospital, health system or private practice that lets him keep seeing PANS/PANDAS patients, giving some families a place to follow him. Whether insurance covers the new setting is a separate question.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2024

Steward Health Care hospital closures in Massachusetts (2024)

Steward Health Care, a for-profit hospital chain, filed for bankruptcy in 2024. Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer closed on Aug. 31 after no buyers emerged, and patients in those areas lost their nearest emergency rooms.

Then

State officials helped place workers and redirect patients, but the communities lost nearby emergency care.

Now

The episode sharpened Massachusetts scrutiny of who owns hospitals and how closures are announced and managed.

Why this matters now

It shows how state agencies in Massachusetts respond when a provider exits, and how much of the burden falls on patients to find new care.

2019

Hahnemann University Hospital closure (2019)

Hahnemann, a teaching hospital in downtown Philadelphia, closed in 2019 after its owner's bankruptcy. Hundreds of medical residents had to find new training programs mid-course, and patients scattered to other hospitals.

Then

Residents and staff scrambled for placements; nearby systems absorbed some services.

Now

The closure became a case study in what is lost when a training and care pipeline shuts down quickly: the people, not just the building, have to relocate.

Why this matters now

A specialty program closing does the same thing at smaller scale: the patients and the one doctor who knows their condition both have to find somewhere else to go.