The McKee era is set to begin in Rhode Island politics, and it will be election season before we know it. Thanks for stopping by. Your tips and comments are welcome. You can follow me through the week on the twitters. Here we go.
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1) The ongoing battle over the CharterCARE hospitals – Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence and Our Lady of Fatima in North Providence – began quietly. Max Wistow, the lawyer known for representing the state in its litigation over 38 Studios, in July 2020 likened members of the state Health Services Council to mushrooms because of his view that they lacked an informed view of the situation. By that time, members of Congress were already pointing to how the Los Angeles-based private equity group that controls CharterCARE’s parent, Prospect Medical Holdings, had taken hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends from Prospect’s chain of 17 hospitals across the U.S. The story got attention in The Wall Street Journal and ProPublica. (Prospect later agreed to pay $27 million to settle a case brought by Wistow related to St. Joseph’s pension fund.) Prospect’s management contends it has the liquidity to keep its hospitals going, and doctors at Roger Williams and Fatima speak enthusiastically about the chain’s intended buyer, Prospect CEO Sam Lee and his business partner, David Topper. But state officials including Attorney General Peter Neronha have repeatedly extended their deadline for vetting the deal, due to questions about the underlying finances. The fallout includes how General Treasurer Seth Magaziner has said Rhode Island will no longer invest in the private equity group that controls Prospect, and state Senate leaders are backing legislation to delay transactions involving for-profit healthcare entities.
2) Providence City Council Sabina Matos is still seen as the front-runner to get the nod as Rhode Island’s next lieutenant governor. If this happens, it will mark a dramatic rise to a statewide position for someone who has won re-election in Providence’s Ward 15 with well under 2,000 votes.
3) Would you believe that the U.S. spends far more on healthcare (roughly $4 trillion a year) than defense (about $732 billion)? While the rate of healthcare inflation has declined in recent years, the overall amount of spending continues to climb. What’s more, studies find that between 20 and 30 percent of healthcare spending is wasted. Reducing even a bit of that waste could pay for a lot of other needs, but solutions mostly prove elusive. All this points to why healthcare remains a political battlefield, a source of ongoing uncertainty and a search for new approaches, as we saw with the news this week about plans for a combined approach by Lifespan, Care New England and Brown University.
4) The idea of a unified Rhode Island system featuring Lifespan, Care New England and Brown University has for years been the holy grail of local healthcare policy. Now, Rhode Island’s two-largest hospital groups have signed a merger agreement, with plans for a five-year $125 million investment from Brown. As Lynn Arditi reports, the news comes as the two hospital groups have experienced financial losses during the pandemic. Supporters call the intended merger a win-win. “There is no question that a local, integrated health care system is in the best interest of Rhode Islanders,’’ Gov. Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “[This] announcement will benefit patients by ensuring they have access to the highest quality of care and will spur economic growth by helping us attract top talent and solidify our position as a hub of innovation and scientific development.’’ But union officials remain concerned about potential job losses and other possible adverse effects. “While we see the potential in this proposed new entity, we remain skeptical without the assurance of a formal agreement on services and jobs,’’ said Lynn Blais, president of United Nurses and Allied Professionals. State and federal regulators will weigh in, and Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey (D-Warwick) has signaled plans for oversight by state lawmakers.
5) If things go according to plan, Gov. Raimondo will win U.S. Senate confirmation early next week, and Lt. Gov. Dan McKee will immediately get sworn in as governor during a private ceremony. There are plans for a public inaugural on the south lawn of the Statehouse at noon on Sunday, March 7. Team McKee has remained quiet about hires for his administration, although I reported this week on how longtime lawyer-lobbyist Kevin Horan (whose clients have included IGT and the payday loan industry) is set to become legislative director for McKee.
6) Via my colleague Sofia Rudin: how CVS Health changed its approach on the use of extra doses of vaccine.
7) Gonzalo Cuervo on why he’s running for mayor of Providence: “I think it’s the right time to take a leadership role in our city’s future. I really love the city. And there are a lot of reasons to love the city. But there are a lot of people that don’t have the opportunity to enjoy everything that the city has to offer. The city has unbelievable assets, cultural, institutional, human assets. But there are a significant part of our population that has been left behind. And I think my background, and my life experience, has prepared me for this moment to take on the leadership of the city.”
8) RI Poli-Media people on the move: one-time WRNI reporter Nancy Cook, whose significant other is former ProJo reporter Chris Rowland, has moved as a White House correspondent from Politico to Bloomberg News ….. Roger Lau ran Hillary Clinton’s 2008 RI campaign. He landed a new role this week as deputy executive director of the Democratic National Committee ….. Mindy Myers, who ran U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s 2006 campaign and later served as his CoS, has formed a new political firm with other Democratic women …. …. Former Raimondo staffers Gabe Amo has joined the Biden administration, and former GMR staffers Matt Bucci, Kevin Gallagher and Nell Abernathy have signed on at Commerce …. Last, but not least, former Cranston Mayor Allan Fung has joined the Johnston law firm Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O’Gara as a partner.
9) It’s the last Friday in February, so the Providence Newspaper Guild Follies – if there still was such a thing – would happen this evening. Welp.
NEARI Executive Director Robert A. Walsh Jr. is a noted wit and a true Follies enthusiast. He submitted a number of strong entries and kept trying to make tweaks after my deadline. Here are his two best efforts.
Walsh entry 1: “A Teacher’s Song,” to the tune of “My Shot” from “Hamilton”:
“I’m finally gonna get my shot
I’m finally gonna get my shot
Hey yo, We like our new Gov
And he listens which we love
And I’m finally gonna get my shot!”
Walsh entry 2:
“Dozens of people crowding onto the stage under a sign that says ‘lieutenant governor tryouts.’ The music is ‘I Hope I Get It’ from A Chorus Line. A stage direction sorts the crowd (reps stage left, senators stage right, Republicans head to the bar, etc). Finally, only one person remains center stage: a very tall young man holding a bullhorn and he sings (to the tune of the Gladys Knight version of ‘It Should Have Been Me’)”
10) Other Follies entries and the big winner.
Runners-up:
Michael Bilof suggests Gov. Raimondo offering to dog-sit for Sen. Ted Cruz, to help ease his concerns about her being Commerce secretary …..
Lou Papineau: ”Dan McKee [backed by a Greek chorus of ‘PRO naysayers Tara Granahan, Matt Allen and Dan Yorke] serenading Gina with Dan Hicks‘ sardonic musical question, ‘How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away?’ ”
Anonymous: “Take all candidates for LG and move them to prudence island for a RI version of ‘Survivor,’ hosted by Richard Hatch.”
Ted Donnelly: Gov. Raimondo singing Madonna’s “Material Girl,” to the tune of being a Commerce Girl in a Commerce world.
Sam Zurier: “I would send them a song imagining Jeffrey Britt giving his own closing argument to Judge Procaccini, based on Bob Dylan‘s ‘It Ain’t Me Babe,’ with these words:
Show justice with your verdict
Do not the innocent defame
The statute’s unconstitutional
And what’s more, I was framed
The State is looking for someone
The election laws he did flout
Who engaged in criminal conduct
Beyond a reasonable doubt
To throw the book at, lock him up and more …
But it ain’t me, Judge
No, no, no, it ain’t me Judge
It ain’t me they’re looking for, Judge”
David Pepin: “Raimondo and McKee are bickering over who’s governor before they get some unsolicited help from … Linc Chafee. In his roundabout way, Linc convinces them they’re both being held hostage by Ted Cruz, and that there’s only one way out — he needs to bring in The Negotiator. Enter … wait for it … Joey Wassamatta, who tries to persuade Cruz to allow a Senate vote on the Raimondo nomination by offering him a week’s vacation in the lovely resort of …. Olneyville.”
Nameless in the East Bay: “Have a Dan McKee character sing a song to Raimondo like ‘Hit the Road Jack,’ (Ray Charles) or ‘Don’t Come Around Here No More’ (Tom Petty).
A non-song skit might be Raimondo and McKee characters in couples counseling.
McKee: ‘I don’t feel wanted.’
Counselor: ‘Tell Gina, not me, Dan’
McKee: ‘Gina, I feel hurt that you don’t appreciate me or my ideas, like vaccinating teachers first.’
Gina: ‘This is why arranged marriages are a disaster.’
A Jeff Britt parody song sung to Nick Mattiello, along the lines of James Brown‘s ‘Payback.’ ”
And the winner is … Carol Grant (in part because she remembered to include a mystery guest):
“While I am not equipped with full lyrics, I do think that a rousing version of ‘Knock It Off, Little Rhody’ could be set to the tune of ‘Just You Wait Henry Higgins’ from ‘My Fair Lady.’ And Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, the special secret guest, with two backup singers, should definitely sing “You Can’t Hurry Shots” to the tune of The Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love.”
11) U.S. Attorney Aaron Weisman has submitted his resignation, effective February 28. In a statement, he said, “Serving as United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island has been the greatest honor of my career. I am indebted to the hard working, dedicated, and conscientious professionals with whom I have had the privilege to work alongside at the United States Attorney’s Office, and who, day in and day out, carry out the Office’s critical justice mission – ensuring the just prosecution of federal-law violations, and that justice be achieved in the civil lawsuits brought by and against the federal government. I have no doubt that the office, working together with its outstanding federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, will continue its exemplary service to all Rhode Islanders.”
12) With Amazon widely reputed as the intended tenant of a new development in Johnston, this New York Times Magazine article on the company is a timely read. As Erika Hayasaki reports, Amazon is offering fertile ground for labor organizers amid concerns about working conditions and on-the-job injuries.
13) What will the “new normal” be like in 2025?
14) Juan Garcia is well-known within Providence activist circles, so give a listen to two installments from our Mosaic podcast, hosted by the excellent Ana Gonzalez: “Journey from Bananaland” and “The Birth of an Organizer.”
15) Will a high-speed $105 billion rail connection between Boston and New York, with considerable benefits for Rhode Island, gain momentum from President Biden’s status as an Amtrak fan? The envision project “checks all the boxes for a multi-benefit recovery strategy,” Scott Wolf of Grow Smart RI tells Bloomberg CityLab.
16) EcoRI News is looking to hire a reporter.
17) State Rep. Justin Price (R–Richmond) got considerable attention for his view that Antifa was responsible for the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. A new poll by USA Today/Suffolk University shows that many Republicans hold similar views: “Nearly 6 in 10 Trump voters (58%) said that the January 6 storming of the Capitol was mostly an Antifa-inspired attack that only involved a few Trump supporters, despite no evidence supporting that claim. Another 28% said it was a rally of Trump supporters, some of whom attacked the Capitol. Just 4% said it was an attempted coup inspired by Trump.” The poll also found that GOP voters continue to strongly support the former president.
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@ripr.org
