Grebien plans to fight Memorial Hospital closing

Mayor: Care New England’s reduction of services has already harmed Pawtucket

PAWTUCKET — About a month ago, Mayor Donald R. Grebien heard rumblings on the ongoing negotiations between Care New England and Prime Healthcare Foundation over the latter's planned acquisition of the 294bed Memorial Hospital.

“Memorial Hospital has always been the lesser profit center or the highest cost center … I wasn't really engaged, it was a state issue,” the mayor recalled. “We looked around and started asking questions and were reassured from the state and some of the partners that the deal was still moving forward.”

On Monday, he received phone calls from two people at Memorial Hospital informing him that the Care New England Board of Directors was having a meeting that night and “they were going to make some decisions.”

“We'd heard from finalizing the sale of Memorial to closing it down to some other agreements,” the mayor said. “There was a lot of speculation; no one really knew.” On Tuesday, he knew. “Once I talked to their consultant, they confirmed the deal had fallen through on the sale and Care New England was going to do the reverse certificate of need process and try to close down Memorial,” the mayor said.

But now, Grebien is fighting back against the closure of the community hospital that's been a fixture on Brewster Street since its founding in 1894. The mayor, in a letter to Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, is asking that the Rhode Island Department of Health seek the immediate appointment of a special master of their choice in order to oversee the entire Care New England transaction. The special master, he says, would have the authority to work with all parties, make recommendations, and oversee any bidding or other processes.

The appointment of a special master is an administrative function of the Department of Health that is a step below receivership. The process has previously been utilized successfully at Woonsocket's Landmark Medical Center and Westerly Hospital.

“We believe that it could be effected immediately in order to bring calm, order and transparency to the current crisis,” Grebien said, later adding: “Clearly, Care New England has made it obvious that they're not worried about this hospital. I've taken the position I want the governor to put the special master in place and have a look at all the books.”

“We've always known Memorial was going to change, what it was years ago was not going to be the same, but we want to preserve the jobs, the services, the assets,” Grebien said. “A special master could look at the broad finances, they could look at it as a mediator and see what options are out there, what really makes sense. I want to protect the residents, protect jobs, protect community assets. A special master coming in will understand that.”

Care New England's Board of Directors on Monday night authorized the termination of the negotiations, as CNE officials said that both sides were unable to reach “mutually acceptable terms.” The board also authorized CNE management to prepare necessary plans and filings with the Department of Health to maintain access to primary care and outpatient services, while closing Memorial’s inpatient units and emergency department.

CNE officials attributed the closure to “chronic financial losses” incurred at the hospital, which they say have been ongoing for the past 10 years. CNE officials said the hospital has averaged a daily input of 15 to 20 patients within the 294-bed hospital, resulting in a $23 million operating loss in the past fiscal year. CNE additionally recorded a $68 million loss from operations in the 2016 fiscal year, and is projected to show a $49 million operating loss for the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30.

Grebien said that the effects of closing Memorial could be seen in Pawtucket on three levels – economically, emotionally, and public health.

“You think about the value … the state can't allow them to just shut this hospital down. It's about the jobs, the community service,” he said. “None of us are naïve enough to say it isn't changing, but for Care New England to deplete assets and walk away is not right.”

Economically, the loss of the hospital would be a hit to Pawtucket. Memorial is Pawtucket's third-largest employer behind Hasbro and the city, the mayor said, and losing 700 employees could have a “very negative impact.”

“It's already had a very negative impact on the medical profession here,” he said. “We've had doctors and professionals who've already moved to different locations because the campus is diminished because there's no value here.”

From a public health standpoint, Grebien said the city is already seeing the effects of the reduction of services at Memorial. Years ago, rescue runs to Memorial were significantly higher than they are today. Now, most runs go to hospitals in Providence, which Grebien said is because Care New England “shifted everything to Kent or Women and Infants and they've diminished the services here.”

“In my opinion, this is being driven by them trying to sell off the two profit centers – Kent and Women and Infants – and not caring about the urban district and the Blackstone Valley … They diminished the value of this hospital moving the maternity ward,” Grebien said of the decision to close Memorial's birthing center last year. “The diminished value of the hospital and the services provided, for Care New England to turn around and close the doors is not fair and in my position not the right thing to do.”

Care New England officials have said they hope to file the reverse certificate of need as soon as possible.