St. Joseph-Fatima pension fund settlement draws praise

3ROVID(NC( Rhode Island Senate 3resident Dominick J. Ruggerio and House Speaker-elect K. Joseph Shekarchi were praising a 30 million-plus settlement announced on 0onday between members of the failed St. Joseph pension plan and several of the defendants they sued for its mismanagement.

The agreement also drew support from the 8nited Nurses and Allied 3rofessionals (8NA3), a union representing many of the affected St. Joseph employees.

Ruggerio pointed to settlement as a step forward in the retirement benefits case.

“In the end, we want to see the hardworking healthcare employees of the St. Joseph’s system get the security and funds they deserve for their retirement,” Ruggerio said in statement on the agreement released on 0onday.

“We are hopeful that this settlement and any future settlements with remaining defendants will restore as much as possible to the members.

One thing the pandemic has made clear is Must how dedicated healthcare workers are and how critical they are to our community,” Ruggerio said.

“Obviously, their hard-earned retirement assets should be protected, and we are glad to see progress toward addressing the grave inMustice that was done to them in this situation,” said Ruggerio, D-Dist. 4, North 3rovidence, 3rovidence, said.

Speaker-elect Shekarchi, D-Dist. 23, Warwick, also saw the agreement has helping to restore pension benefits to the affected employees.

“(very member of the St. Joseph’s pension system is an innocent victim who trusted their employers to contribute and manage their retirement plan responsibly,” Shekarchi said.

“They had no way to see this disaster coming, and it left thousands of people in danger of losing their contributions and their hope for a stable future,” he added.

“We are very glad to see progress toward restoring what was taken from them, and we are optimistic for a full, fair resolution of all the lawsuits surrounding this insolvency. We are also committed to preventing this sort of failure in the future, because employees deserve to be kept in the loop about their retirement investments,” Shekarchi said.

Ruggerio and Shekarchi had sponsored a law (2018-S 2112, 2018H 8166) passed in 2018 to help

facilitate the settlement, according to Meredyth Whitty, director of the General Assembly’s legislative press and public information bureau.

In 2019, they also sponsored another bill (2019-S 0431Aaa, 2019-H 5287Aaa) aimed at preventing similar insolvency situations in the future, Whitty noted.

The legislation, which was also enacted, now requires that any nongovernmental pension plans that are not covered by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and have 200 or more members must comply with ERISA’s reporting requirement, Whitty said.

The $85 million St. Joseph pension plan covers about 2,700 current and former employees of Our Lady of Fatima and Roger Williams hospitals, but was left insolvent when contributions to it ceased following the sale of Fatima and Roger Williams to Prospect Medical Holdings in 2014, ac

cording to Whitty.

On Monday, 8nited Nurses and Allied Professionals (8NAP) President Lynn Blais, RN, called the settlement “a positive step” in winning justice for the active and retired participants in the St. Joseph’s pension fund, a goal the union remains committed to achieving.

“And I want to e tend my heartfelt gratitude to Receiver Stephen Del Sesto and Attorney Ma Wistow for their unwavering efforts to protect the dignity and security of thousands of Rhode Island health workers,” Blais said.

Blais described Senate President Dominick Ruggerio as being “tenacious in his efforts to protect our members and retirees.

“When the pension fund failed, he led from the front and took action to enact critical oversight and protections, and we are grateful for his advocacy,” Blais said.

“This litigation has always been about honoring a promise -- a commitment that the work of caring for others deserves recognition and respect.

Prospect Medical Holdings and the other defendants -- including the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence -- turned their backs on the dedicated and compassionate workers of the St. Joseph’s Pension fund, including the brave caregivers and support staff at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital,” Blais continued.

“While this settlement appears to move us closer to justice, it is by no means an absolvement of Prospect’s aggressive attempts to deny pension participants the hope and promise they built their lives around. We look forward to reviewing the details of the proposed resolution and carefully e - amining how it will impact our members,” Blais said.

Blais also called on state regulators and members of the General Assembly to take note of the timing of the settlement agreement.

“Sam Lee and David Topper -- the two wealthy individuals who control the parent company of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center -- are asking the Rhode Island Department of Health and Attorney

General Peter Neronha to approve applications that would grant them the e clusive ability to operate those desperately-needed facilities,” Blais said.

“Sam Lee and David Topper have leveraged the future of our hospitals for their own personal benefit. They borrowed more than a billion dollars to enrich themselves by a combined nearly $250 million and now reputable, local accountant Donald Wisehart has said that their actions have put Prospect Medical Holdings on the verge of ‘imminent bankruptcy,” Blais stated.

Blais said the Department of Health and Attorney General Neronha should deny Lee and Topper’s request to take over Fatima and Roger Williams.

“Frontline workers and patients deserve better,” Blais said.

The 8NAP is a regional healthcare union representing more than 7,200 nurses, technologists, therapists, pharmacists, mental health workers and support staff in Rhode Island, Vermont and Connecticut, according to the union.