Care New England Closing Another Facility
Monday, March 05, 2018
On the heels of closing Memorial Hospital in December -- laying off 800 plus employees, Care New England’s Women & Infants is now closing its Woonsocket office.
“We are turning into a medical colony. On the line is local control and deciding which services will be provided and at what cost. When you lose local control, you lose local jobs,” said former Rhode Island Director of Health Dr. Michael Fine. "The [state] legislature has given up on meaningful health policy planning."
The office is one of three regional locations and which was designed “to better serve women living in the northern Rhode Island area," with "physicians and midwives, affiliated with Women & Infants Hospital, [having] elected to rent space within the Women & Infants Woonsocket Medical Office.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAt this time, South County and East Greenwich offices are not being impacted.
Latest in Hospital Shakeups
The move is another retreat by Care New England (CNE), who is now in negotiations with both Partners HealthCare in Boston and rival Lifespan. Women & Infants still has offices in Pawtucket.
Fine, who served as Director of Health under Governor Lincoln Chafee, says Rhode Island is now suffering the carnage of a destabilized healthcare system due to lack of healthcare policy and planning by state officials.
“62-65% of hospitals’ revenue is all public money, but they are governed by private boards who are accountable to no one. All the time they are trying to do more stuff (like launch new programs) which just drives up costs," Fine told GoLocal. “We are not looking at any of the programs or the costs."
Partners HealthCare, who is poised to acquire CNE -- one of the largest private employers in Rhode Island -- announced last week that it entered into merger conversations with Lifespan as well — Rhode Island’s largest private employer.
Now, the future of healthcare in Rhode Island is unknown.
Care New England’s Northern RI Retreat
According to a CNE spokesperson, Women and Infants will look at other options in the region.
“With the expiration of the lease at Women & Infants’ Medical Office Building in Woonsocket on July 1, 2018, we are reviewing other opportunities in the community. We will continue to update the community,” said Amy Blustein, Director of Marketing at Women & Infants Hospital.
“Care New England remains committed to providing excellent care to the Blackstone Valley community. In Pawtucket, we offer a range of services through Care New England Medical Group Primary Care and Specialty Services, as well as Express Health Care for those who need ready access to health care but do not require hospital-level care," said Blustein.
There are two Pawtucket locations Brewster and Prospect Streets and they provide a range of services from family health to pediatrics.
There is no indication if the Woonsocket closure will lead to more layoffs.
In April of 2017, CNE announced major layoffs -- with Women & Infants hit the hardest.
“At Women & Infants and across Care New England, we have undertaken extensive measures to improve our financial stability while trying to minimize the impact on labor. Unfortunately, it has not been enough, as we have continued to experience reduced volumes due to changing demographics, reduced inpatient neonatal care, a declining birth rate, and a decrease in reimbursements. We must adapt to significant changes in health care delivery and payment, such as decreased population and births, and advances that change the way we provide care,” said Mark R. Marcantano, president and chief operating officer at Women & Infants Hospital at the time.
On December 31, 2017, Memorial was shuttered, ending the jobs for 800 employees — about 600 full-time equivalents.
CNE has refused to give exact numbers of the number of staff reductions over the past 12 months. The company has lost more than $120 million during the past 30 months. And, the leadership group has missed its own financial marks repeatedly.
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