PROVIDENCE – Nearly three months after submitting a 24,000-page document to the R.I. Attorney General and Department of Health, Roger Williams Medical Center and St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island announced this afternoon that their application to merge has been accepted as complete.
The acceptance means that the application will now be scrutinized over the next 180 days, including a public hearing and an evaluation by DOH’s Health Services Council.
The two health care entities’ affiliation, first announced a year ago, is the first application to be approved under the recently established review process. If approved, the new entity – to be known as CharterCare Health Partners – will have 579 licensed beds, employ about 3,200 and have annual operating revenue of about $330 million.
“The process is all about ensuring community access to care,” said Kenneth Belcher, Roger Williams’ president and chief executive officer. John Fogarty, president and CEO of St. Joseph, added that the process had required a high level of collaboration between the two entities, which he said “bodes well for the success of our hoped-for affiliation.”
Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch praised both institutions for completing the first stage of the process, noting that they are “cornerstone hospitals that provide vital medical care and a host of important health care services for the people of Providence, North Providence, the metropolitan area and the entire state.”
The Attorney General’s office, as well as the DOH, solicited comment from concerned citizens on the affiliation at HCAcomments@riag.ri.gov, while noting that the application will be available online for viewing in the near future at www.health.state.ri.us.
