Brown University Health insists losses tied to two ailing Massachusetts hospitals have no bearing on financial decisions affecting Rhode Island operations.
But they can’t convince Rep. Lauren H. Carson, D-Newport, and others who fought the potential closure of a Newport Hospital birthing center.
“I don’t understand that,” Carson told PBN in this week’s cover story. “I think it is one big system.”
The fight over preservation of the birthing center ended with state lawmakers agreeing to cover some of the cost to keep it open this fiscal year. But it highlighted financial challenges facing the state’s largest healthcare system, which reported an $18.8 million operating loss in the fiscal 2026 second quarter.
There’s no disputing the dismal financial performance of the Fall River and Taunton hospitals and other Massachusetts assets. They lost $79.6 million in the six-month period ending March 31, compared with a $21 million loss in the same period a year earlier.
At the same time, the health system reported $43 million in operating income for the same six-month period in Rhode Island. One reason for the bigger-than-expected Bay State losses have been declining patient admissions.
Brown Health believes the performance of the Massachusetts hospitals will improve.
But Providence College health sciences professor Robert Hackey says that “for the foreseeable future,” Brown Health will need to keep spending to boost services to compete in Massachusetts. And that will continue to leave R.I.-based services vulnerable to cost-cutting.