Roger Williams, Our Lady of Fatima hospitals sale to move forward. Here's why

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4 days ago

PROVIDENCE – Attorney General Peter Neronha announced Thursday, July 31 an amended decision to facilitate the sale of Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital.
The decision – the second amended in the sale process – reduces the cash-on-hand requirement for the Centurion Foundation, a Georgia-based nonprofit, from $80 million to $45 million for closing the deal.
The reduction of cash-on-hand, explained Neronha at a press conference, was due to Centurion having difficulties selling bonds to raise funds for the purchase of the hospitals. But the amended decision also requires Centurion and CharterCARE to secure an additional $35 million within 90 days, bringing the funds back to $80 million.
Neronha said the parties have given him assurances on their ability to raise funds post-sale that, in his judgment, could be relied on.
The attorney general also said he secured the remaining $50 million – from an original $80 million in an escrow account – to create a hospital fund as part of the transaction.
Additional conditions have also been attached to the sale, among them:
A requirement for the parties to spend at least $50 million on capital expenses at the hospitals within three years of the transaction
A requirement for the parties to not contest the attorney general's right to file a petition for the appointment of a receiver in case of insolvency
The detainment of a consultant, at the expense of the parties, to report on the financial and operation state of the hospitals
'While this is a complicated process, our goal is simple: make sure our safety net hospitals are in the best position possible to serve our communities for as long as possible,' Neronha said in a written statement following the press event.
Neronha explained that the hospitals were not yet entirely out of danger but that progress has been made: the hospitals are staying provisionally open, are shifting from for-profit to nonprofit and the attorney general's office will have levers to pull in case of an insolvency.
'I don't want to stand here and gaslight Rhode Islanders and make them believer, or have them believe, that all the problems have been solved. They haven't,' Neronha said at the July 31 press conference. 'But we have made some steps forward.'
The attorney general added that Rhode Island's chronic low reimbursement rates from public and private insurance need to be addressed to treat the health system's ailments.
'Until we make a Rhode Island patient mean the same financially as a Massachusetts or a Connecticut patient, our hospital systems and our providers and our workers are always going to be at a state of disadvantage,' Neronha said.
The anticipated closing date for the sale – pending approval by a bankruptcy court in Texas – is sometime in late August or mid-September.
The full amended decision is available here.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Roger Williams, Our Lady of Fatima hospital sales moving forward
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