PROVIDENCE – Lifespan Corp. reports Rhode Island Hospital resumed accepting hospital-to-hospital transfers Wednesday morning, with a lower-than-usual patient volume at its emergency department, as United Nurses and Allied Professionals Local 5098’s four-day strike at the facility and Hasbro Children’s Hospital reaches the halfway mark.
Lifespan noted in a Wednesday evening statement that it expects informational picketing from Thursday at 3 p.m. to Friday at 3 p.m. at Newport and The Miriam hospitals, though those facilities are not affected by the strike.
“No decision has been made about picketing locations beyond the main campus outside Rhode Island Hospital, though other sites are being considered at the moment and were included in the strike notice,” said UNAP spokesman Ray Sullivan.
Should picketing occur at those locations, operations will continue as usual without any change in patient services, Lifespan noted.
Lifespan provided the following additional updates on its services during the strike:
- Rhode Island Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital are currently providing care for 420 patients, of which 387 are adults and 33 pediatric. The hospitals have capacity for more than 100 additional patients, depending upon the acuity and type of care needed, up to a planned maximum of 525.
- Ten operating rooms were in use Wednesday, and all planned surgeries were performed, including a kidney transplant. Limited elective surgery will resume Thursday.
- The Lifespan Cancer Institute has been operating normally, completing several hundred outpatient cancer care visits this week, including medical oncology and radiation oncology.
- Pediatric outpatient clinics were operating at normal capacities Wednesday.
The strike of about 2,400 nurses and medical technicians at Rhode Island Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital is expected to last until 3 p.m. Friday.
Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Borkowski@PBN.com.
