The headline says it all: “CNE plots solo course (for now).”
The cover story interview in the current edition of Providence Business News with Care New England Health System CEO and President Dr. James E. Fanale makes clear that the ending of discussion to create a “Rhode Island solution” to the state’s health care delivery system does not change the long-term need for some form of consolidation among large provider networks.
Dr. Fanale says that, among other things, the ease with which a larger system can access credit to invest in facilities and people is a driving force in wanting to grow. Short of the capital that a merger with Partners HealthCare would have brought CNE, the local system will focus now on the upgrades it has put off for years.
But he also does not rule out more discussions in the future to once again address the needs of Care New England as well as those of the citizens of Rhode Island.
A focus for now on managing CNE, given its current resources, is a good plan. But it should not stop the state’s health care ecosystem from keeping an eye on what is to come.