The two largest health systems in Rhode Island have announced a deal with Brown University and its Warren Alpert Medical School to create an integrated academic health system.
With co-investments from Lifespan, Care New England and Brown University, the new system will bring together the state’s premier teaching hospitals — Lifespan’s Rhode Island, Miriam, Hasbro, Newport and Bradley hospitals; and Care New England’s Women & Infants, Kent, and Butler hospitals — with Brown’s research and medical education from the Warren Alpert Medical School.
A Feb. 24 story by G. Wayne Miller in the Providence Journal noted that efforts to merge Lifespan with Care New England date back years, “but negotiations have always dead-ended, sometimes amidst acrimony and finger-pointing. But newfound cooperation between the two organizations begun in the early days of the pandemic led leaders to try once again, with talks beginning late last spring.”
Brown has committed to provide a minimum of $125 million over five years in support of the development of the integrated academic health system. “We’re committed to creating an integrated health system that increases access to excellent health care and by doing so, reduces health disparities,” said Brown President Christina Paxson, in a statement. “Great healthcare should be accessible to everyone, including people from communities that historically have experienced obstacles to accessing health care. The seamless integration of research and clinical care drives improvements in the health of patients by offering all Rhode Islanders access to state-of-the-art medicine.”
Leaders of the three organizations emphasized that the merger offers a unique and valuable opportunity to bring together the expertise and capacity of three organizations to offer excellent, coordinated care to patients.
The creation of an integrated academic health system will maximize the ability to capitalize on Brown, Lifespan and Care New England’s complementary strengths, strategically build research capacity in new areas, coordinate effectively with other local institutions and create new industry partnerships that bring employment and economic growth to the region, the leaders said.
“What I am most excited about is the ability of our new, locally based, academic health system to compete at a national level, innovate, attract top talent, develop new scientific knowledge, improve the care we deliver and serve as an economic engine for Providence and the state,” said Timothy J. Babineau, M.D., Lifespan president and CEO, in a statement. “This is an exciting moment in time; we cannot let it slip through our grasp yet again.”
The Journal article quoted Rita Numerof, president of St. Louis-based global healthcare consulting firm Numerof & Associates. In an e-mail response to a Journal query, she wrote: “While the Lifespan and Care New England merger with Brown University is well-intentioned, as many mergers in healthcare often are, the belief that size is protective is a misguided one. Healthcare executives need to see that scale and success are not synonymous. Consolidation could end up harming Rhode Island’s patients, potentially limiting the options and services available to them in the long run. In the wake of COVID-fueled revenue losses, it’s likely that this merger won't be the last.”
The merger requires state and federal regulatory approvals. Lifespan, Care New England and Brown anticipate the regulatory approval process will take several months. A new website, www.HealthierRI.com, has been developed to provide information about the integrated academic health system.
