Zambarano could get $108M expansion
McKee budget proposes new facility for Burrillville hospital unit
BURRILLVILLE – Gov. Daniel McKee’s new budget proposal includes $108 million for a new facility on the Zambarano campus of the Eleanor Slater Hospital.
The funds, disbursed over the next five years, will go toward the construction of a new long-term acute care facility to replace the existing Beazley Building in Burrillville. The current building is “not suitable for renovation as a medical facility,” according to the proposed budget.
“A lot of times, Zambarano is referred to as the hospital of last resort,” Sen. Jessica de la Cruz told The Call. “That’s because it is.”
The facility, expected to be complete in 2028, will eventually have over 100 beds “tailored to meet the needs of patients already served at the facility,” according to the budget. The Eleanor Slater Hospital, which is run by the state, provides service for patients with serious and persistent mental illness, brain injuries, developmental disabilities and various neurological disorders. Because it caters to patients with complex conditions, the hospital draws patients from all over the state, as well as patients in the criminal justice system referred by judges.
McKee also allocated $14.3 million for short-term improvements, including to infrastructure systems like waste water treatment and water distribution. The more immediate changes will keep EHS operational while the new facility is being built. Funds were also earmarked specifically to improve the ventilation system in the Beazley Building and replace the vehicles that transport patients to Cranston
patients to Cranston and Zambarano. The average age of a vehicle in the current fleet is 20 years old at the Zambarano campus, according to budget documents.
“Eleanor Slater Hospital takes care of some of our state’s most vulnerable residents,” McKee said in a statement. “It’s long past time to make meaningful investments that will provide higher quality care for the patients, better conditions for the staff, and tackle decades of deferred maintenance.”
The improvements are a precursor to plans to transition Cranston to a standalone psych ward and keep the new Zambarano facility dedicated to patients with physical ailments. The plan was originally proposed by the consulting group Alvarez & Marsal in 2020. Richard Charest, director of the Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals, which oversees ESH, told a Senate commission Thursday that he has already begun the process of getting approval from the state for the plan. If the process goes as expected, Charest said the new hospitals could begin operating by September 1.
A history of inadequate conditions and safety code violations, among other issues, led the consulting group Alvarez & Marsal to initially propose shutting down Zambarano in 2019. An inspection last spring by the Office of the State Fire Marshall turned up 112 life and safety code violations, among them a completely non-operational kitchen. De la Cruz said the facility has occasionally resorted to using grills outside to provide hot meals.
Another important change included in McKee’s budget is $22.4 million to upgrade ESH to an electronic medical records system. The hospital’s lack of an electronic system prevents it from receiving federal funding from the Electronic Health Record Incentive Program. In addition to becoming eligible for more federal aid, de la Cruz said upgrading to electronic records will make it easier for patients to transfer records between hospitals in the state and for health care professionals to keep track of patients’ medical histories.
“The significance of these investments cannot be overstated,” Charest said in a statement. “These projects will better position the hospital to carry out its mission to care for Rhode Islanders who require our services for long-term medical and psychiatric conditions, and they will help our staff as they perform this work.
Like healthcare facilities around the country, ESH has struggled with staffing shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospital drew scrutiny earlier this month after an outbreak of COVID-19 cases. Two, then three asymptomatic COVID-positive staff members were called in on two days to help cover shifts, as permitted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A statement on the ESH website said the COVID-positive staff members were not connected to the outbreak, and that COVID-positive staff members have not been called in to cover shifts since January 3.