The Centurion Foundation, a private charitable group based in Atlanta, met the deadline Tuesday to file a revised application to buy CharterCARE Health Partners, the parent of embattled Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital.
The updated application was jointly filed with the state Health Department and the office of Attorney General Peter Neronha.
“While more questions are possible, we do remain hopeful that these state agencies will deem this application ‘complete’ shortly and the formal review process will begin,” CharterCARE CEO Jeffrey H. Liebman wrote in an email to employees.
The owner of CharterCARE, California-based Prospect Medical Holdings, has been under-funding Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima – a situation that led the Neronha’s office and the Health Department to pursue separate, disconnected regulatory actions last week.
The Health Department issued an immediate compliance order to Prospect, citing how at least 19 elective surgeries were canceled at Roger Williams and Fatima in October due to non-payment to vendors. A related sealed court order filed by Neronha was expected to be unveiled Tuesday, but that process has been delayed.
Neronha spokesman Brian Hodge confirmed receipt of the revised application from Centurion, which is organized as a 501(c)(3). He declined a request by The Public’s Radio to share a copy ahead of a review of the completeness of the application.
In August, Neronha and the Health Department found that an earlier application by Centurion was incomplete.
Otis Brown, a spokesman for PMH’s Rhode Island properties, asked for comment, echoed the themes cited by Liebman.
In his email to employees, Liebman wrote, “As is customary with the Hospital Conversion Act process, this included our latest responses to the most recent deficiency questions posed by both the RI Departments of Health and Attorney General. It is now close to 200 pages in length with more than 10,000 pages of exhibits.”
Liebman continued: “As you know, this has been a time-consuming undertaking in terms of sharing required information and answering detailed questions by both these state agencies, again a normal part of the regulatory process.”
On its website, Centurion touts its record in extending community-based healthcare.
But United Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents hundreds of workers at Roger Williams and Fatima, has used a newspaper advertising and direct mail campaign to criticize how Centurion has not responded to requests, including one for a no-layoff provision.
This story has been updated.
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@thepublicsradio.org.
