RI’s Healthcare Industry Just Took Another Big Turn
Friday, April 13, 2018
One of the largest sectors of the Rhode Island economy just took another big turn with the announcement of CharterCare’s intention to re-open Memorial Hospital — first the emergency room. The impact would be the addition of hundreds of jobs in Pawtucket.
The implications are significant and the effort changes the narrative on the healthcare debate in Rhode Island.
The re-opening has a number of contingencies — READ HERE. But, for Blackstone Valley and for the emergency rooms in Providence, the announcement is much needed. With the closure of Memorial, Miriam Hospital’s emergency room was repeatedly overrun and reportedly had to divert ambulances to other hospitals. And, John Holiver, CEO of CharterCare said on GoLocal LIVE on Thursday that Roger Williams Hospital saw a very significant increase in ER traffic this winter.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe closure on January 1, 2018, by Care New England and approved by Governor Gina Raimondo's administration cost the Blackstone Valley 700 plus jobs.
“Central Falls residents need a nearby community hospital for our emergency needs,” said Central Falls Mayor James Diossa. “Our rescues have been in waiting lines since the closure of Memorial Hospital, putting the health of our residents at serious risk. We took legal action to stop the closure of Memorial and now support this effort to reopen the hospital, its emergency department and to restore jobs and services to the Blackstone Valley.”
The announcement seemed to catch Raimondo’s office off guard. “We haven’t seen anything yet. We understand there is a proposal and legislation coming but nothing has been shared with the administration,” said Josh Block, Raimondo’s Press Secretary.
Raimondo’s administration oversaw the closing of Memorial and has promised to develop some other facility to serve the Blackstone region, but months later nothing has transpired.
Pawtucket State Representative Carlos Tobon says Memorial is critical to the economy
Memorial Has Been a Financial Death Zone
Both for the independent Memorial Hospital and its last owner — the financially trouble Care New England — the Hospital has been a financial sinkhole. Between the two over the past decade, the losses have neared $100 million. Holiver said that CharterCare could transform the services and believes it can be run profitably.
"We are committed to Rhode Island, and to the Blackstone Valley community. We are prepared to invest $10 million into Memorial, and reopen this facility creating a first wave of over 100 jobs with more to come. Currently, we are the lowest reimbursed hospital system in the state. We want to work with state and legislative leaders to correct this imbalance,” said Holiver.
New RI State Senator Discusses the importance of re-opening Memorial Hospital
Partners and Care New England
Rhode Island’s second largest healthcare group, Care New England, who has lost more than $120 million over the past two-plus years, dismissed the announcement. “Any plan to reopen the closed facility, as suggested today, is simply unfeasible especially since we previously had conversations with CharterCare about buying Memorial and those proved fruitless. Today’s announcement represents nothing more than an opportunity to muddy the healthcare landscape with an ill-conceived plan with no true thought for serving the community need,” said their spokesman.
Care New England has been in negotiations with Partner HealthCare of Boston for a year now. During that time Partners — who has an annual budget of over $13 billion which is nearly 50 percent larger than Rhode Island’s annual state budget — has yet to file any documents with the Rhode Island Department of Health or the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office relative to the acquisition. Brown University and CharterCare have porposed an alternative structure for the future of Care New England -- a proposal that they assert will be more positive for RI.
Related Slideshow: 7 Implications and Unintended Consequences of a Care New England and Partners Merger
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