Aaron Robinson | CEO and president, South County Health
1. Access to care in Rhode Island is at a crisis point, especially in primary care. Practices have closed, while others are struggling to attract staff and stay afloat. South County Health has expanded its primary care services. How has the health system been able to do this? Over the past 12-plus months, we’ve invested heavily in recruiting providers and fostering a culture where they feel supported and patient relationships matter. As a result, we’ve reassigned over 5,000 previously unassigned primary care patients, booked more than 3,000 new primary care visits and added 1,700 new OB-GYN visits.
2. What role should the state play in improving access to primary care? The state plays a critical role in protecting access not only to primary care but to health care overall. The root cause of Rhode Island’s health system crisis is the extraordinarily depressed reimbursement rates that doctors and all health care providers in Rhode Island have experienced over decades while the costs to provide those services have skyrocketed.
3. Are you concerned about federal cuts to Medicare and Medicaid included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act? How would this affect South County Health? Yes. Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid directly impact community hospitals like South County Health – and would have a drastic effect on hospitals across Rhode Island. We already operate on razor-thin margins due to lack of rate parity, so significant federal cuts will continue to weaken an already fragile health system.
4. Changes in the Cancer Center last year contributed to some public displays of community concern. What updates can you share about the Cancer Center today?Since last year, we have expanded our oncology provider team by more than 60%, and now have more permanent providers across all three oncology domains – medical (7), surgical (2) and radiation (2) – than at any point in our history. South County Health will also open a new outpatient cancer clinic at the East Greenwich Medical and Wellness Center later this fall.
5. Is South County Health still interested in partnering with a larger health system to save costs and provide a wider range of cancer treatments? Why or why not? If yes, which health system? South County Health remains open to partnerships and strategic alignments with like-minded organizations that aim to improve the quality, accessibility and sustainability of health care services for residents of Washington County and beyond.
We do have partnership conversations ongoing that we believe would ensure the maintenance and enhancement of our mission, though it is too early to comment on any specifics.
