The application by the Centurion Foundation, an Atlanta-based nonprofit, to buy two Rhode Island hospitals was made public Monday by the state Department of Health and the Office of Attorney General. As part of a public comment period, the two state agencies plan to stage two public meetings on the proposed acquisition and they are […]
hospitals
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Rhode Island’s top health official: No more mask mandates, just recommendations
Rhode Island this week reported the highest rate of new COVID-19 cases in the country, according to The New York Times. Driven by the rise of the more contagious Omicron subvariant, known as BA.2, the average daily increase in new COVID-19 cases in Rhode Island during the last two weeks has more than doubled, although […]
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RI’s CharterCare hospitals performed elective surgeries while turning away patients from their ERs
During this winter’s COVID-19 surge, hospitals across Rhode Island and Massachusetts suspended all but the most urgent surgeries to free up staff and beds to care for the influx of patients. But not CharterCare Health Partners, which operates Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center. Even when their emergency departments were so […]
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R.I. Attorney General blocks Lifespan-Care New England merger
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha has rejected a proposed merger of Rhode Island’s two largest hospital systems, saying that consolidating Lifespan and Care New England would create a single system with “extraordinary market power” in violation of state and federal antitrust laws. On Friday, the Federal Trade Commission released a redacted copy of […]
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Life On Hold: Hundreds of people in R.I have surgeries delayed
Harry and Lorraine Sterling have been enjoying a kind of extended honeymoon since they married four years ago. They found each other on an internet dating site for seniors. They are regular theatre-goers. And though they are both in their 80s they still love to travel. This winter, they planned to hitch their red Mini […]
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Hospital employees and public voice concerns about Lifespan-Care New England merger
More than 250 people joined the first public hearing this week to weigh in on the proposed merger of Rhode Island’s two largest healthcare systems, Lifespan and Care New England. “I’m terrified about the impacts of this merger,’’ said Sara Gello Weinreich, a nurse at Butler Hospital in Providence. She recalled that Butler Hospital used […]
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Omicron surge forecast to peak in RI as early as this week
A forecasting model from a Brown University epidemiologist predicts that Rhode Island will see record high COVID-19 cases and hospitalization as early as this week. Health reporter Lynn Arditi spoke with John P. Fulton about the models he and his colleague at Brown’s School of Public Health developed for the state Department of Health. Dr. […]
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Rhode Island hospital officials, physicians group call for indoor mask mandate
The recent rise in COVID-19 cases in Rhode Island prompted the state’s largest hospital group and a physicians organization this week to call for a mandatory indoor mask mandate, a measure that Governor Daniel J. McKee has so far expressed reluctance to impose. Lifespan, which operates five hospitals including Rhode Island Hospital, the state’s only […]
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Lifespan-Care New England could qualify for a fast-track merger
A Senate bill that would have given state regulators more time and leverage to review the proposed merger of Rhode Islands’ two largest hospital systems – Lifespan and Care New England – has stalled in the House. The bill (S-443) introduced by Senate Majority Leader Michael J. McCaffrey, D-Warwick, would have increased from 120 days […]
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Lifespan, Care New England sign merger deal to create an academic health system with Brown University
Lifespan and Care New England have signed a merger agreement to create one academic health system with Brown University, the companies announced Tuesday. The long-anticipated deal between Rhode Island’s two largest hospital networks includes a five-year $125 million investment from Brown, which operates the state’s only medical school. Brown will join the governing board and […]
