Rhode Island’s largest hospital system is changing its name.
Lifespan Health System, which operates Rhode Island Hospital, the principal teaching hospital for The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, will be renamed Brown University Health, the two nonprofits said in a joint statement released Thursday.
The rebranding is part of expanded partnership agreements between Lifespan and the Ivy League university designed to “enhance [Lifespan’s] ability to recruit and retain world-class physicians,” the statement said, and reflect a “deeper alignment between Lifespan’s clinical care and Brown’s academic and research focus.”
As part of the agreements, Brown will invest $150 million over seven years – $15 million to $25 million per year – in Lifespan’s hospital system.
The rebranding comes as nationwide staffing shortages, exacerbated since the pandemic, are making it difficult for health care systems across the country to recruit and retain doctors and other staff.
Lifespan, to be commonly referred to as Brown Health, is charting a path similar to other hospital systems around the country — including Penn Medicine, Northwestern Medicine, Yale Medicine and UCLA Med School — that are named after medical schools but continue to operate as separate organizations, Lifespan president and CEO John Fernandez told The Public’s Radio.
“Brown University is one of the leading brands in higher education, a name known around the world as well as the nation,” Fernandez said in an interview. “To use that powerful brand of a university in your health system name really does help…you recruit terrific physicians and scientists.’’
Higher inflation and low reimbursement rates also are expected to continue to create “significant headwinds for the foreseeable future” for Lifespan, Fernandez said in the statement announcing the name change. The rebranding is expected to take place over the next several months.
Brown President Christina Paxson said in a statement that “the new agreements move the relationship between Brown and Lifespan to a more contemporary model in line with other affiliation agreements we see across the country, where the academic-medical affiliation is reflected through a shared name between the hospital system and the academic institution.’’
Brown’s Paxson said that in addition to enhancing the recruiting of academic and clinical leaders and care providers, the university’s investments will also accelerate improvements including the expansion of electronic health records.
While Brown’s investment is “significant,” it represents less than one-percent of Lifespan’s operating revenue, Fernandez said after the announcement. “So it’s helpful, very important, but doesn’t solve our structural problems of low reimbursements and things like that.’’
At the end of the seven years of Brown’s investments, Lifespan will invest $15 million a year for research and education at Brown’s medical school.
The Brown Investment Office also will manage approximately $600 million to $800 million of Lifespan’s investment portfolio, the statement said, which is expected to generate higher returns for Lifespan. The portfolio will be phased in at about $200 million per year over four years.
The university also will play a role in Lifespan’s governance. Brown’s medical school dean will serve as Lifespan’s chief academic officer. Brown’s president and its medical school dean also will become ex-officio members of Lifespan’s Board of Directors.
Lifespan has 54% of the market share in Rhode Island, compared with Care New England, the state’s second-largest hospital system, which has 13% share, according to Fitch Ratings. In its February 2024 report, Fitch said that Lifespan is seeking to expand further into southeastern Massachusetts, mainly by increasing its primary care coverage.
Besides Rhode Island Hospital, Lifespan also operates Bradley, Hasbro Children’s, Newport Hospital and The Miriam Hospitals.
Care New England’s hospitals — Kent, Women & Infants and Butler — will continue to house Brown’s family medicine, OBGYN and psychiatry academic and clinical chairs. Brown also will maintain its academic affiliation agreements with Care New England, The Providence VA Health System, HopeHealth and Brown Physicians, Inc. for teaching, faculty development and research.
This story has been updated with additional information from Lifespan CEO John Fernandez.