Merger plan enticing, but questions linger

Merger plan enticing,
but questions linger

The news that Lifespan and Care New England want to merge was not entirely unexpected, given the financial climate in Rhode Island’s health care system, but it’s still a bit daunting.
Like many people we’ve spoken with, and like many respondents to this week’s Executive Poll, we’re still not sure whether this is good news for the state, and most important, how it might affect the health care system as a whole.
The same day the merger plan was announced, the Community Hospital Task Force issued a report calling for prompt action to avert an impending financial crisis and recommending changing the health care payment system, encouraging collaboration among hospitals, and even removing barriers to potential mergers among institutions.
On its face, you could argue, a Lifespan-Care New England merger would accomplish at least some of those goals, and it would give the new company’s hospitals the bargaining power to go head to head with insurers in a way that no individual hospital could ever do.
The involvement of Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School and the vision of an academic medical center clustered around Rhode Island Hospital is also a very attractive element of the plan. This could be a huge boon to Providence and the whole state.
But we’re concerned about the remaining, independent hospitals, all of which lost money last year, and some of which are really struggling to survive.
Both Lifespan and Care New England have strong track records, and their hospitals are real assets to their communities. Before they’re allowed to merge, however, we hope that public officials do exactly what they’ve promised: Evaluate this deal thoroughly, and make sure Rhode Island consumers and the market as a whole will be protected. We’ll be watching.

For-profits are key
in housing efforts

The first $10 million of the $50 million affordable-housing bond approved by voters last fall has been allocated, and while most of the 20 projects that got funding involve the nonprofits that have traditionally built affordable housing in Rhode Island, six involve for-profit developers.
The single biggest grant allocation, $2.52 million, is going to the Armory Revival Co. for the redevelopment of the Bourne Mill in Tiverton, a $45.3 million project that will include some affordable units in a mostly market-priced complex.
That, we believe, is the future of affordable housing: Nonprofits and for-profits working side by side to meet the needs of the entire community. It needn’t either/or; especially in large developments, there’s room for a mix. And given the vast need for affordable housing, every project counts. It’s good business and good citizenship. •

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