State Approves Closing Of Memorial Hospital

PAWTUCKET, RI — The state health department on Thursday signed off on the plan to close the emergency room at Memorial Hospital. Care New England, which owns Memorial, said the action means the hospital is "functionally closed." The decision takes effect Jan. 1, 2018, according to Joseph Wendelken, spokesman for the state health department. But there were conditions attached.

“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 Director of Health Nicole Alexander-Scott, MD, MPH. “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.”

Here is the press release.

RIDOH organized two community meetings in Pawtucket in the last month to gather community input, in addition to collecting written comments. This input informed RIDOH’s decision and conditions. The conditions include requirements that CNE:

• Open a walk-in clinic in Pawtucket, to be open seven days a week.
• 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.
• Put in place a transportation plan for patients and patients’ families so that individuals with non-emergency chronic conditions won’t have to incur additional costs associated with traveling to receive services that are only offered at another hospital.
• Maintain Memorial Hospital’s Family Care and Internal Medicine Centers in Pawtucket at their current hours and staffing levels.
• Invest $100,000 annually in the Pawtucket and Central Falls Health Equity Zones (HEZs). 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.
• 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 Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, and CNE’s Employee Assistance Program.

A full copy of the decision is available online.

Although today’s decision means that Memorial Hospital will no longer function as a hospital, an application for Memorial Hospital to cease providing primary care services in Pawtucket is still pending. CNE intends to continue to provide these services in the future in Pawtucket under the licenses of other CNE hospitals. (These other CNE facilities are in the process of obtaining the necessary licenses to do so.)

According to statute, in making today’s decision RIDOH needed to consider how the proposed changes would affect:

• Access to healthcare services for traditionally underserved populations (including Medicaid, uninsured and underinsured patients, and people of color);
• The delivery of emergency and primary care services in the community;
• Other hospitals or healthcare providers in the affected community; and
• Other hospitals or healthcare providers in the state.

The findings of the decision included the fact that there are seven acute care hospitals within a 10-mile radius of Memorial Hospital, and 10 health centers within a 10-mile radius. RIDOH also noted in the decision that while Memorial Hospital’s primary service areas include many underinsured and traditionally underserved populations, CNE will continue to serve its large primary care patient population in Pawtucket.

Due to concerns about patient safety, RIDOH issued a consent order on November 30th temporarily halting EMS services to Memorial Hospital, along with new admissions and surgeries at the Hospital. The Hospital’s emergency department had remained open for walk-in patients. CNE will be issuing public notifications in English, Spanish, and Portuguese in the coming days about the timing of the permanent closure of the emergency department, effective January 1, 2018.

Starting Jan. 2, 2018, these health services will be available on the Memorial Hospital campus, according to Care New England's press release.

Care New England Express Health Care

Location: 111 Brewster Street, Pawtucket

Contact: (401) 729-2191

Services: We offer walk-in services for members of the community who need ready access to health care but do not require hospital-level care. We treat injuries and ailments such as cuts, sprains and strains, minor traumas, cold, flu, and headache. All patients are served, regardless of insurance or ability to pay.

Family Care Center

Location: 111 Brewster Street, Pawtucket

Contact: (401) 729-2304 – Team A

(401) 729-2206 – Team B

(401) 729-2769 – Team C

Services: At the Family Care Center, primary care providers are committed to providing the best health care possible for infants, children, adolescents, pregnant women, and adults of all ages. As a “patient-centered medical home,” we offer preventive care and will coordinate specialty care. We also reserve space each day for sick visits. If you are sick, please call your team for the next available appointment.

Internal Medicine Center

Location: 111 Brewster Street, Pawtucket

Contact: (401) 729-2258

Services: Internal medicine doctors (internists) at the Internal Medicine Center are trained to diagnose and treat the general medical needs as well as acute and chronic medical needs of adults. Our primary care team is committed to providing high quality, compassionate care. We offer a team-based, “patient-centered medical home” model of medicine, which means we work closely with patients and other health care professionals to ensure the best possible care.

Center for Rehabilitation

Location: 111 Brewster Street, Pawtucket

Contact: (401) 729-2316

Services: We offer a complete range of outpatient rehabilitative services in physical, occupational, and speech therapy for patients of all ages.

Physician Specialties

Physician specialists from across Care New England will be available for consultation at the Family Care Center and Internal Medicine Center, as appropriate. Planned specialties include:

Cardiology

Dermatology

General surgery

Oncology

Orthopedic surgery

Pulmonary medicine

Sleep medicine

Diagnostic Imaging

Location: 111 Brewster Street, Pawtucket

Contact: (401) 729-2334

Services: Diagnostic Imaging services commonly associated with primary care practices are offered, including plain-film x-rays for chest films and bone x-rays, as well as mammograms.

Laboratory

Location: 111 Brewster Street, Pawtucket

Contact: (401) 729-3389

Services: We offer phlebotomy (blood draw) services for standard lab work.

555 Prospect Street, Pawtucket

Pediatric Primary Care Center

Location: 555 Prospect Street, Pawtucket

Contact: (401) 729-2582

Services: We offer pediatric primary care for children from birth through adolescence, including routine infant, child, and adolescent care; management of chronic health problems; immunizations; school, sports, and camp physicals; and nutrition consultations. We also reserve space each day for sick visits.

New England Pediatric Institute of Neurodevelopment (NEPIN)

Location: 555 Prospect Street, Pawtucket

Contact: (401) 729-6200

Services: Our staff of developmental/behavioral pediatricians, clinical psychologists,

and pediatric neuropsychologists assess and treat children and adolescents with disorders and disabilities that could impact their ability to learn and develop. We work with children from birth to age 21, offering a broad spectrum of mental and neurodevelopmental health services in one convenient location.

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