Care New England, Memorial ink partnership agreement

CARE NEW ENGLAND PRESIDENT AND CEO DENNIS KEEFE, left, and Interim President and CEO Arthur DeBlois III of Memorial Hospital sign the partnership agreement that officially binds Memorial to the CNE network at a ceremony held Tuesday on Memorial's Pawtucket campus. / PBN PHOTO/RICHARD ASINOF
CARE NEW ENGLAND PRESIDENT AND CEO DENNIS KEEFE, left, and Interim President and CEO Arthur DeBlois III of Memorial Hospital sign the partnership agreement that officially binds Memorial to the CNE network at a ceremony held Tuesday on Memorial's Pawtucket campus. / PBN PHOTO/RICHARD ASINOF

PAWTUCKET – Dennis D. Keefe, president and CEO of Care New England, and Arthur DeBlois III, interim president of Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, signed the papers today officially bringing Memorial into the Care New England hospital network.

The signing ceremony, held under a tent on the Memorial grounds, was witnessed by more than 150 people, many of them Memorial medical staff and employees.

“After two years of engagement, we’re now getting married,” said Keefe, to smiles and laughter from the crowd.

Tomorrow morning at 6 a.m., Keefe and his colleagues will be on hand to greet Memorial workers as they begin their shift.

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Memorial is the first hospital to join the Care New England network in 17 years, according to Keefe, marking a shift in focus to primary care and the patient-centered medical home in Rhode Island.

The official closing comes after state regulators from the R.I. Department of Health and the R.I. Attorney General’s office approved the deal on July 3, less than a year after Memorial and Care New England signed a letter of intent on Sept. 10, 2012.

In an email to employees, Keefe told the Memorial staff that they will help to shape a new Care New England culture.

“We are humble, we listen, we learn,” he wrote. “We are not afraid to take risk, we believe in continuous improvement, we admit to mistakes. We appreciate integrity, directness, transparency. Our highest value is in doing what’s right for our patients and families.”

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