CRANSTON – The R.I. Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals has announced plans to seek a separate license for a 52-bed forensic psychiatric facility located within Eleanor Slater Hospital.
A certificate of need application to relicense the Roosevelt Benton Center will be submitted to the R.I. Department of Health in January, BHDDH says.
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The center treats forensic patients who are ordered to receive psychiatric care by the court system. As part of Eleanor Slater, the Benton Center is surveyed by the Joint Commission as a long-term acute care facility.
Obtaining a separate license will allow for it to be classified as a psychiatric hospital.
Eleanor Slater will continue to care for patients with long-term medical and psychiatric conditions, while accepting patients from the Benton Center when the need arises.
“This is an important step for Eleanor Slater Hospital,” said BHDDH Director Richard Charest. “We know that Rhode Island has to treat its forensic patients, and we know the state needs a long-term acute care hospital, so it is important that we find a model that best serves patients while maximizing opportunities with our federal partners. By doing this, we provide the best-possible care to patients while also being fiscally responsible to the taxpayers.”
In a report issued in June, Womazetta Jones, secretary of the R.I. Executive Office of Health and Human Services, recommended pursuing a separate license for the Benton Center.
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.
