Thursday, March 28, 2024

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CREATIVE ­­OUTLETS: ­­Barrington woodworker Torsten Mayer-Rothbarth says Etsy Inc. is one of several places he sells his work. Convenience outweighs the downsides for many sellers using Esty, he says. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Price might be high for using online platforms

When Frog and Toad LLC launched in 2001, the owners of the gift shop didn’t see the need to create a website, let alone...
HELPING HAND: John Schreiber is one of about 50 travel nurses who have been hired temporarily to fill open positions at Kent County Memorial Hospital in Warwick. The use of travel nurses at hospitals has increased because of a labor shortage. / COURTESY CARE NEW ENGLAND HEALTH SYSTEM/RYAN PICKERING

Hospitals find good, bad in hiring travel nurses

For most hospitals, employing travel nurses isn’t new: before the COVID-19 pandemic, Kent County Memorial Hospital in Warwick typically had eight to 10 travel...
SCREENSHOT: Digital artist Anne Spalter displays one of her works, “The Wonder of It All.” The non-fungible token of the art was up for auction at Sotheby’s in April. / 
PBN PHOTO/­MICHAEL SALERNO

Where are NFTs headed in the business world?

As the founder of the first digital fine arts course at Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design in the early 1990s, Anne...
THE BIG REVEAL: Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio speaks at an event in Newport on March 15 announcing Cox Communication Inc.’s $120 million investment to upgrade broadband infrastructure statewide. Also pictured, from left, are Ross Nelson, Cox senior vice president and region manager; Mark Greatrex, Cox president; and Gov. Daniel J. McKee. / COURTESY COX COMMUNICATIONS INC.

Battle brewing to give R.I. more broadband choices

High-speed internet in Rhode Island is synonymous with one company: Cox Communications Inc. Since the advent of broadband technology more than 20 years ago, Cox...
CHECKING IN: This is a sample screen of the Papa Inc. mobile app that allows independent contractors called pals to connect with seniors in their areas who need assistance or companionship. The service is offered through certain health insurance plans provided by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island.  / PBN PHOTO

Health insurers offering ‘grandkids on-demand’

Now in partnership with health plans in Rhode Island, a company called Papa Inc. is providing a service that’s been marketed as “grandkids on-demand,”...
RECOVERY MODE: R.I. Department of Health Interim Director Dr. James McDonald, left, talks about the health care industry’s workforce woes at the PBN Health Care Summit on April 6. Also on the panel are, from left, Dr. Claire Levesque, chief medical officer for commercial products at Point32Health; Dr. Raymond O. Powrie, Care New England Health System executive chief of medicine; Dr. Matt Collins, chief medical officer and executive vice president at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island; and Dr. Timothy J. Babineau, Lifespan Corp. CEO and president. PBN Editor Michael Mello, standing, moderates. / PBN PHOTO/MIKE SKORSKI

Babineau: ‘It is going to take us years to rebuild’

The COVID-19 pandemic left Rhode Island’s health care industry a shell of its former self, with a staffing crisis that continues to have massive...
WORKING TOGETHER: Dr. Christopher Ottiano, middle, medical director of Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, explains that health care stakeholders should join forces to improve the system. Panelists participating in the PBN Health Care Summit on April 6 included Dr. Amy Nunn, left, executive director of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute, and Dr. Robert MacArthur, right, Commonwealth Care Allicance chief medical officer.  / PBN PHOTO/MIKE SKORSKI

Panel: ARPA funds can help mend health safety net

Lindsay Lang sees trouble coming in maintaining health insurance for some Rhode Islanders, and she wants state lawmakers to act before it’s too late. Lang,...
LATHE ­LESSONS: Wilbert Cante, left, and Melvin Shaw, both machine technology students at William M. Davies Jr. Career and Technical High School in Lincoln, work on the manual lathe machine. / PBN PHOTO/ELIZABETH GRAHAM

Davies students step up for early career launch

On any given day, workers at Greystone of Lincoln Inc. churn out a half million “safety-critical” components for airbags, car engines and aerospace equipment. But...
COMMON GOAL: From left, Tekla E. Moquin, associate vice president of the division of workforce partnerships at the Community College of Rhode Island; Amy Grzybowski, assistant commissioner at the R.I. Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner; and Jenifer Giroux, assistant vice president for professional studies and continuing education at Rhode Island College, have been working together to provide an education system that allows all Rhode Islanders a chance at earning a degree or advanced credential in fields that are in demand. / PBN PHOTO/ELIZABETH GRAHAM

Leaders lay groundwork to ‘supercharge’ training

It was a first at Rhode Island College. At the start of the spring semester, the college started offering a fully online degree – a...
SOLUTION NEEDED: Susan E. Enck, a licensed clinical psychologist at Brown Medicine’s Warwick Primary Care, says the mental health system was near its breaking point before the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it’s in crisis. / PBN PHOTO/ELIZABETH GRAHAM

Pleas to fix R.I.’s ‘broken’ behavioral health system

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, treatment providers, advocates and lawmakers are calling for Rhode Island to confront its problems with access to...
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