Coastal Medical, which “merged” with Lifespan in April 2021, has “temporarily closed” more than half of its laboratories. This comes as Lifespan reportedly is also closing its weight loss clinic.
According to the Coastal Medical website, it has temporarily closed six of its 11 laboratories, leaving some patients that rely upon the practice’s laboratories few options. Among the casualties is Coastal Medical’s laboratory at 850 Aquidneck Ave., Middletown. The closest Coastal Medical laboratory to Aquidneck Island is now in East Providence.
The other laboratory closures are in East Greenwich, Lincoln, Pawtucket, Providence/Edgewood, and Wakefield. Surviving, for now, are Cranston, two in East Providence (one at the imaging center and the other in a primary care office), Providence, and Smithfield.
“Due to limited resources during the pandemic available Coastal lab locations and hours are subject to change, often on short notice and on a day-to-day basis,” according to a note on the Coastal Medical website.
Only one lab, at the East Providence Imaging Center, is open on the weekend. On a recent Saturday, the line for the lab at shortly after its 8 a.m. opening stretched out the door, nearly to the front door of the lobby.
The Center for Weight Loss and Wellness at Miriam Hospital, another Lifespan facility, is closing, according to a report in RINews Today, where one of its contributors is a program participant and reportedly received a letter from Lifespan that the center was being closed. According to the story, the clinic serves about 1,000 patients. It is accepting no new patients but will honor the contracts of current patients.
In response to this story, Kathleen Hart, Director of Public Relation for Lifespan, shared with What’sUpNewp on Monday the following update;
“Coastal Medical has not permanently closed any of its labs. Because of a current phlebotomist shortage, Coastal has to temporarily limit operations as it does not have enough phlebotomists to fully open all lab locations at this time. We are actively recruiting staff and hope to provide availability at Wakefield, Newport and Lincoln again soon, and are re-opening locations as staffing permits.
Lab locations and hours are subject to change on a daily basis. We update Coastal’s website daily with the current lab schedule and we ask patients to please visit www.coastalmedical.com/laboratory-services to check availability before traveling to any Coastal lab.
Please note: Weekend hours are available at the Coastal Medical labs both in East Greenwich and East Providence”.