A monthslong public dispute between South County Health and an opposition group over the management of the South Kingstown-based health system is causing negative side effects at a crucial hospital, according to both sides.
The opposition group of former South County Health doctors, directors and community members wants to oust CEO Aaron Robinson, accusing him of “alienating employees” with an adversarial management style that group members say is also hindering efforts to partner with larger health systems to provide improved services.
For its part, South County Health – which operates South County Hospital – says a bruising pressure campaign by the group, which calls itself Save South County Hospital, has deterred prospective donors and made some patients question the quality of care at the hospital.
The dispute was touched off publicly last year when a team of oncology doctors suddenly resigned from South County Hospital and, after forming Save South County Hospital, pushed for the resignation of Robinson and other administrators.
In the latest development, the hospital on March 11 filed a lawsuit against Save South County Hospital and a former South County Health executive who managed donor relationships. The lawsuit asserts the defendants collaborated to persuade donors to stop giving money to the hospital.
The public feud is taking place at a time when South County Health is struggling financially.
For instance, South County Health’s oncology program is losing about $3 million a year, according to Joseph Matthews, chairman of the health system’s board of trustees. Part of the problem: South County Health is too small to qualify for a federal program that reduces drug prices.
So it’s looking to partner with a larger health system for cost savings and to provide a wider range of cancer specialty treatments, Matthews said.
The health system has been looking to merge with another system or to be acquired. Now management is concerned prospective suitors will be scared off by “misconceptions” spread by Save South County Hospital, or potential buyers could use the conflict as leverage in negotiations, Matthews said.
But Dr. Christopher Van Hemelrijck, a medical staff member at South County Hospital who sides with Save South County Hospital, says the group believes it’s the adversarial way that management – specifically Robinson, who has been CEO since 2019 – has gone about negotiating that has hindered efforts to partner with other health systems.
“We have the same goals, but clearly there’s a difference in the way that those goals [should be] achieved,” Van Hemelrijck said. “We just don’t believe that it’s going to be feasible, or sustainable, under current leadership.”
The dispute may be causing harm.
While patient care hasn’t been compromised, Matthews said, people have asked if they will be safe or receive the treatments they need after hearing negative statements from Save South County Hospital.
“The noise that is going on and some of the claims that are being made do not reflect the reality,” Matthews said.
The conflict has also discouraged donors. Since October, about 50 of them have said they won’t give any more money, Matthews said.
Van Hemelrijck asserted that it’s the hospital leadership that has dismissed donors who support the opposition as a way of torpedoing Save South County Hospital’s plan for a special meeting of the South County Healthcare System Endowment on April 3. The group said it needs to get a certain percentage of endowment donors to hold a vote in order to add its own members to South County Health’s board.
South County Health spokesperson Matthew Moeller said the organization has not dismissed any donors.
(Correction: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized Dr. Christopher Van Hemelrijck relationship with South County Hospital. He is a medical staff member at the hospital.)
