RI Hospital Files Obstetrics Application With State—Likely to Trigger Calls for Payment to Prov
Thursday, January 12, 2017
On Tuesday, Lifespan's RI Hospital filed with the State of Rhode Island to gain approval spend millions to build a new 31-bed obstetrics unit right across the street from Women and Infants Hospital. The $43 million expansion is likely to spark new calls for the $2 billion healthcare giant to make payments to the city of Providence.
The announcement is a bit unexpected as RI Hospital's parent company, Lifespan has been reporting massive financial loses and the state has declining births.
Rhode Island Hospital and its parent company has been claiming poor mouth as the hospital is the only major hospital or college in Providence that refuses to make any contribution to the the city. In contrast, Brown University made payments in excess of $3 million in the most recently reported year.
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As GoLocal previously reported:
Currently, Lifespan is the only nonprofit that does not have a payment-in-lieu-of taxes (PILOT) agreement in place with the city, Lifespan recently told GoLocalProv.com it would not be making a payment in Fiscal Year 2017, which the Elorza Administration had budgeted for a $800,000 payment from them.
On Wednesday, GoLocalProv.com reported, "Lifespan Refuses to Pay Providence - Elorza's Received Thousands in Lifespan Contributions."
Lifespan touted a more than $30 million reduction in charity care costs under Obamacare in 2015, due to the number of charity cases moving to Medicaid -- but says it cannot afford to pay the City of Providence, despite paying $800,000 a year when it had twice the charity costs.
Lifespan, whose most recent three-year deal to pay the city $800,000 annually expired in 2014, made a one-time payment to the city in 2015 of $400,000, but has paid nothing since.
Can't Afford it
In August, Jane Bruno of Lifespan told GoLocal that the healthcare giant was strapped and could not afford to make any payment to the City, ""We certainly understand and appreciate that the city is experiencing financial difficulties. Lifespan is facing similar financial challenges. These challenges are due, in part, to cuts in Medicaid rates and caps on commercial insurance increases. Like Providence, we are faced with difficult decisions. As such, we are not currently in a position to make a payment to the city as we are focused on continuing to provide vital health care services to the residents of our city and state," said Bruno.
"Rhode Island Hospital is uniquely positioned to fill the need in the region for such complex obstetric care since it is already the recognized leader for providing care to the most severely ill and complicated patients in the state. Patients will have access to urgent OB/GYN, medical and surgical services all in one location and will be able to take advantage of the comprehensive array of services Lifespan offers to proactively manage chronic illnesses such as diabetes and obesity," said said RI Hospital in a release.
“The goal is very clear: Improve the health of women and their children across their lifetimes,” said Margaret M. Van Bree, MHA, DrPH, president of Rhode Island Hospital. “We are moving to better serve women and their children in our community at a time when changes in the population of women needing care require a new and more comprehensive approach – one that is also cost effective.”
Lifespan already offers OB/GYN services, including a birthing center at Newport Hospital and one of the state’s largest OB/GYN. Rhode Island Hospital’s pediatric division, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, also provides a significant portion of pediatric care in Rhode Island. The addition of this obstetrics unit will mean a seamless transition for new mothers and their children into necessary services for newborns such as immunizations, screenings, and well-baby checkups.
“When women receive care in a fully-integrated model like this, outcomes improve, cost-effectiveness and value increase, and women have more choices,” Miller added.
In its application, Rhode Island Hospital is proposing completing the obstetrics unit in 2020 at a cost of $43 million to build. The new unit will include 25 post-partum beds, six antepartum beds, and eight labor and delivery rooms.
Related Slideshow: Check Out The Grades: Rhode Island Hospitals Report Card
A recent survey released by The Leapfrog Group assigns a Hospital Safety Score, using the report card system of A to F to each of the hospitals in Rhode Island. These grades are based on expert analysis of injuries, infections and errors that cause harm or death during a hospital stay.
Let's see how each of Rhode Island's hospitals were graded from highest to lowest:
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