On the same day that South County Health announced it was calling off merger talks with Yale New Haven Health’s Westerly Hospital, Lifespan Corp., Care New England and Partners Healthcare of Massachusetts told the world they were exploring a collaborative relationship.
South County Health, the parent of the region’s only remaining independent community hospital, South County Hospital, has been looking for a partner for a number of years. But it has walked away from a number of deals because potential partners do not seem as focused on serving the community as much as it does.
The Lifespan/Care New England/Partners news is more complex, because between them, Lifespan and Care New England control roughly two-thirds of the licensed hospital beds in Rhode Island and are involved in the lion’s share of teaching Brown University’s medical students. They are key to the health care ecosystem in the Ocean State.
There are fears that Partners absorbing Care New England might somehow drain resources from Rhode Island, so much so that Brown University made its own proposal to join with Prospect Medical Holdings to create a unified academic health system.
There was not much detail released about the talks between Lifespan, Care New England and Partners, but one thing that should not be forgotten is the local aspect of any health care network. Yes, it is about providing the best health care.
But it’s also about having as economically strong a health care sector as possible, a perspective that should not be lost in all these discussions.
