PROVIDENCE – John Fernandez, Lifespan Corp. CEO and president, says he is not interested in attempting a merger with Care New England again.
Instead, Fernandez who stepped into his role after the health systems’ failed merger attempt, said his focus will be on improving patient care and job development.
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“The major focus is how we take care of patients and get more jobs and do more research,” said Fernandez who spoke during a four-person panel discussion with other health care and higher education leaders at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce’s fall Economic Outlook Luncheon Tuesday at the R.I. Convention Center.
The discussion focused on the current state of Rhode Island’s health care system and where it’s going.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health care industry has continued to be plagued by a shortage of workers. However, creating jobs is important not only important for health systems, but all industries, Fernandez said.
Dr. Michael Wagner, CEO and president of Care New England Health Systems, said ongoing collaborations between Rhode Island’s higher education and health care systems will provide a much-needed boost to the state’s job supply.
“We actually already have the dialogue occurring between our higher education organizations, our health organizations and the state around workforce planning,” Wagner said. “That’s a real relief, because it created the right environment for us to connect between what we need from a workforce development perspective, our higher ed counterparts in the state from a planning perspective.”
One of these collaborations is the “hub,” which establishes a quasi-state agency responsible for the life sciences and biotech development in Rhode Island. Leaders from Lifespan, Care New England, Brown and URI have all expressed their support for the “hub.” which would be funded by $45 million Gov. Daniel J. McKee set aside for life sciences in his fiscal 2024 budget.
This builds upon the collaboration between Care New England, Lifespan and Brown that formed in November 2022 when the three institutions signed a research collaboration agreement.
While Fernandez said it could be a while before the “hub” is in action, he acknowledged the $45 million Gov. Daniel J. McKee set aside in his fiscal 2024 budget would help accelerate the process.
Dr. Mukesh K. Jain, dean of medicine and biological sciences at Brown University, noted the health systems ongoing collaborations with the state’s academic institutions also further Rhode Island’s contributions to the industry.
“If you had a commitment to partner with the private sector, and with the health systems you could actually leverage all of that and make observations in Rhode Island that innovations were impactful on human health they could be scaled the nation,” Jain said.
Jain also emphasized that specialization will be key for further the state’s health care industry. He also added that a key scientific niche for Rhode Island health systems and researchers to focus on is RNA because of the broad effects it will have on all aspects the health care industry.
“This is a really big deal because it will affect diagnostics and therapeutics across all areas of medicine,” said Jain who is also senior vice President for Health Affairs at Brown.
Marc B. Parlange, president of the University of Rhode Island, who also delivered a speech before the panel discussion, noted the university’s focus on preparing health care workers. More specifically, Parlange said URI graduates have been launching their health care careers within Rhode Island.
Fernandez also highlighted that among the competitive forces for health systems to watch out for are artificial intelligence and delivery services like Amazon that are attempting to break into the industry.
Wagner said these competitors have gained traction because health care leaders have yet to provide patients with the connected access to health care they are looking for.
“We want to get to the point where we can even compete from an experience perspective that people will be able to get on their app, get in touch with their physician to be able to have that connected access,” Wagner said. “The real threat is for us from a competitive perspective is how do we meet that challenge, while also at the same time, helping to make sure that we continue to be the safety net organizations for our communities.
Dr. Mukesh K. Jain, dean of medicine and biological sciences at Brown University, noted the health systems ongoing collaborations with the state’s academic institutions also further Rhode Island’s contributions to the industry.
“If you had a commitment to partner with the private sector, and with the health systems you could actually leverage all of that and make observations in Rhode Island that innovations were impactful on human health they could be scaled the nation,” Jain said.
Jain also emphasized that specialization will be key for further the state’s health care industry. He also added that a key scientific niche for Rhode Island health systems and researchers to focus on is RNA because of the broad effects it will have on all aspects the health care industry.
“This is a really big deal because it will affect diagnostics and therapeutics across all areas of medicine,” said Jain who is also senior vice President for Health Affairs at Brown.
Panelists also spoke about the effects of climate change on the health care industry.
“We are impacting planet Earth and we have to begin to really take seriously what we are going to do,” said Parlange, who is also an expert in the field. “It’s a time for people to really engage and come together.”
Jain noted that climate change has had an immediate effect on the health care industry, but there will also be changes to the diseases people in North America face in the decades to come. Advancing knowledge about these long-term effects of climate change is one way for Rhode Island to benefit its communities and distinguish itself nationally.
Fernandez added that there is a long way to go, but some methods to reduce institutions’ carbon footprint include what materials are used for construction and development and reducing energy costs.
“We’ve got to figure out ways to make energy work and the environment work for us,” Fernandez said.
(Update: Adds additional comment from Fernandez in 5th paragraph, discussion about hub and comment from Jain added in 8th through 14th paragraphs)
