I read with interest the 2 articles you published recently regarding the panel discussions for the future of the Newport Hospital Birthing Center.
My concern is that as long as Brown University Health has a large financial obligation to pay off the loans that they acquired when they purchased Lifespan, the Birthing Center’s existence will never be secure. Brown University Health is looking to reduce services that do not provide income to its business model.
A model that gave $3.3 million between 2023 and 2024 to the outgoing president of Lifespan on top of his $6.8 million severance package, and then announced the possible closure of the Birthing Center, another hospital’s Mental Health service, and the free dental clinic located on the RI Hospital campus due to financial difficulties. And these closures are only a start. It has been my experience, when I was a hospital inspector for 22 years for the MA DPH and CMMS, that someone always gets the short end of the stick with these mergers. And as long as Brown University Health has financial “challenges” that stick will get shorter.
In comparison, Southcoast Hospital Group appears to be financially stable and is an organization that Islanders are frequently referred to. Many of the Island’s medical and health care staff are credentialed in that system and medical records are also integrated. Plus it has two centers on the Island: at the Polo Center and Linden Center. Maybe Newport Hospital should search for greener pastures, Southcoast at Newport Hospital has a nice ring to it.
Audrey MacLeod Pfeiffer
Middletown, RI