Update on Memorial Hospital
Pawtucket ??? Mayor Donald R. Grebien, Governor Gina Raimondo and Central Falls Mayor James Diossa, in a written letter, requested that Care New England Health Services (CNE) submit a written proposal to identify which specific services will remain at the Pawtucket Memorial Campus.
Pawtucket Memorial is an integral health care provider for many residents in Pawtucket and the Blackstone Valley, including many residents of the underserved populations in these communities.
Mayor Grebien said that ???[i]n order to fulfill our respective duties to protect the public interest, weekly meetings hosted by Governor Raimondo???s office have commenced with CNE in order to keep the lines of communication open and to provide updates and plans for the repurposing of Memorial Hospital. Care New England representatives communicated that they intend to continue providing certain community-based primary and specialty care services in Pawtucket.???
???On Wednesday, we discussed the importance of communication and having dialogue in advance in order to understand the overall impact and stability of CNE’s decisions that affect the community,” said Mayor Grebien. ???CNE committed to improving communication and advanced notification to the Department of Health as well as to the leaders within the communities. This communication will go a long way to building value with employees and the community at large as we go through this challenging process to understand their long term plans and services for our communities.???
The Mayor continued, ???My first priority is to ensure that the people of our community have access to health services here in Pawtucket and the Blackstone Valley. Any restructuring of a hospital and changes with the community asset poses significant issues and barriers for our diverse population, the elderly, those without transportation, and the employees.
???It is our responsibility, as legally challenging as it may be, to advocate that CNE continue to provide primary care and some specialized care services and that they provide honest information to communicate to the community.?? Care New England needs to understand the importance of informing the community to ensure a transparent process.???
Care New England informed all emergency medical providers on Saturday, November 11th, including our local fire department, that due to the closure of the intensive care unit they would no longer be accepting patients with a variety of emergency health needs effective November 13th.
Care New England has also submitted an application with the Department of Health for a reverse Certificate of Need to eliminate the Emergency Department and certain other services at Memorial Hospital.
Mayor Grebien has made clear to CNE that a concrete written proposal regarding the planned future use of the hospital campus will need to be submitted.