PROVIDENCE — The R.I. Department of Health has approved Care New England’s reverse certificate of need application to close Memorial Hospital’s emergency department, leaving the second application governing primary care in progress as licenses to continue those services at the at the 111 Brewster St. location with other hospitals are secured.
Thursday’s decision includes conditions aimed at supporting local emergency medical response capacity, maintaining the state’s primary care training infrastructure, and investing in health at the community-level, according to RIDOH. The decision is effective on Jan. 1, 2018.
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RIDOH temporarily halted EMS services, new admissions and surgeries at the Hospital Nov. 30. The emergency department had remained open for walk-in patients. CNE will issue public notifications in English, Spanish, and Portuguese about the timing of Jan. 1 permanent closure of the emergency department, RIDOH reports.
“We spent weeks carefully weighing CNE’s applications to understand how these changes at Memorial Hospital would affect the most vulnerable residents of Pawtucket and Central Falls, and the state’s healthcare system as a whole,” said R.I. Director of Health Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, “The conditions included in today’s decision seek to ensure that residents continue to have access to the high-quality care they need. In addition, the conditions call on CNE to invest in community-level initiatives that will positively impact the underlying socioeconomic and environmental factors that actually determine the health of people and their neighborhoods.”
“Care New England remains steadfast in its commitment to the development and implementation of our recently outlined comprehensive plan of care for the community moving forward,” said Dr. James E. Fanale, executive vice president, chief operating officer, and chief clinical officer of Care New England.
Fanale said CNE’s collaboration with Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien, Central Falls Mayor James A. Diossa, and community representatives demonstrates the company’s commitment to Blackstone Valley and health care throughout the state
Care New England issued the following notes on continuing services at the site starting Jan. 2:
- Patients with previously scheduled outpatient appointments should still plan to attend unless they have been personally notified of a change.
- The Care New England Express Health Care, located in the Ambulatory Care Center at 111 Brewster St., provides walk-in services for medical conditions that do not require hospital-level care, such as cuts, sprains and strains, minor trauma, cold, flu, and headache.
- Other services located at the Ambulatory Care Center 111 Brewster St., include the Family Care Center, Internal Medicine Center, Center for Rehabilitation, and consultations with physician specialists. Lab work and other ancillary services such as x-rays and mammograms will still be available in the Ambulatory Care Center.
- The Pediatric Primary Care Center and New England Pediatric Institute of Neurodevelopment remain open at 555 Prospect St., Pawtucket.
The Pawtucket delegation to the Rhode Island Senate, Senators Elizabeth A. Crowley (D – Dist. 16, Central Falls, Pawtucket), Donna M. Nesselbush (D – Dist. 15, Pawtucket, North Providence), William J. Conley, Jr. (D – Dist. 18, East Providence, Pawtucket) and James E. Doyle, II (D – Dist. 8, Pawtucket) protested the decision, pointing to a Nov. letter urging the RIDOH to keep the emergency department at Memorial open.
“We particularly urge you to reconsider the closing of the emergency department at Memorial Hospital,” the senators wrote. “The department is relatively new, there is a great deal of need for emergency care in the area, and the Miriam Hospital ER is smaller than Memorial’s. Sending our constituents to the Miriam ER is unfair to them and unfair to the residents of Providence who already use the Miriam Hospital. Since Memorial closed down its ER, it has been reported to us that the wait times at the Miriam have skyrocketed to unacceptable levels,” the delegation wrote in November.
RIDOH organized two community meetings in Pawtucket to gather input and collected written comments that influenced conditions the department placed on the approval of CNE’s plan to close the emergency department:
- CNE must open a walk-in clinic in Pawtucket, open seven days a week.
- CNE will provide $300,000 to Pawtucket and $200,000 to Central Falls each year for two years to offset emergency medical services costs associated with transporting patients to other hospitals.
- CNE will establish a transportation plan for patients and patients’ families so that individuals with nonemergency chronic conditions won’t have to incur additional costs associated with traveling to receive services that are only offered at another hospital.
- CNE must maintain Memorial Hospital’s Family Care and Internal Medicine Centers in Pawtucket at their current hours and staffing levels.
- CNE will invest $100,000 annually in the Pawtucket and Central Falls Health Equity Zones. Rhode Island’s HEZs are nine distinct areas throughout the state where organizations are coming together to put health programs and policies in place to prevent chronic diseases, improve birth outcomes, and improve the socioeconomic and environmental conditions of their neighborhoods.
- The company must make outplacement and career transition services available to staff through an outplacement firm hired by CNE. CNE will continue to organize job fairs which will include representation from all operating units of CNE, other employers through the state, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training, and CNE’s Employee Assistance Program.
A list of Care New England services currently available at the Memorial campus is attached here.
Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Borkowski@PBN.com.
