Fate of Roger Williams and Fatima Hospitals Tied to Sale of $140 Million in Bonds
GoLocalProv Business Team
Fate of Roger Williams and Fatima Hospitals Tied to Sale of $140 Million in Bonds
CharterCARE is the third-largest hospital group in the state, serving about 15% of the market. Brown Health (formerly Lifespan) has 66% of the market, and Care New England has just under 20%.
On Wednesday, the bond documents hit the market.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe deal is the sale of two bonds that use the Rhode Island Health and Education Building Corporation as the conduit for $140,665,000 in bonds — in two separate offerings.
The first is $88,125,000 in revenue bonds to be repaid over 30 years and a separate $52,540,000 in taxable bonds to be repaid over ten years.
Politicos Scrambling
Last week, Governor Dan McKee, Speaker Joe Shekarchi and now Senate President Val Lawson issued a joint statement to try and build confidence for potential bond buyers.
The statement from Governor McKee, Speaker Shekarchi, and President Lawson read:
The long awaited sale of CharterCARE hospitals is at a critical stage as the bond issue to provide the financing required to complete the sale transaction with current owner Prospect Medical Holdings moves forward.
The joint statement is meant to be a strong signal of our support of these essential safety net hospitals that provide quality care to thousands of patients. It is important that the state continue to support this transaction, following rigorous regulatory review and where possible, to consider other opportunities of relief. Their long term success is key to stabilizing our healthcare delivery system.
As part of the deal is that the new owner, Centurion Foundation of Georgia, would convert CharterCARE from for-profit to not-for-profit and the respective host cities Providence (Roger Williams Hospital) and North Providence (Fatima) would lose approximately $6.5 million combined in tax revenues.
The two hospitals, combined, have 552 beds, conducted over 17,000 surgeries in 2024, and saw over 377,000 visits last year (NOTE: The chart above reflects only Acute Care).
The healthcare community in Rhode Island is most worried about a closure of the hospitals and especially Roger Williams’ emergency room (ER). Rhode Island already suffers from among the longest ER times in America.
Job Loss
CharterCARE employs 2,400 full and part-time employees. Just over 1,100 of those jobs are union.
Rhode Island has been hit with healthcare job losses due to layoffs in recent months. On Thursday, GoLocal reported that Providence Community Health Centers was laying off 70 people.
This announcement comes after 124 were laid off at Thundermist, 30 layoffs at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, the closure of Anchor Medical, and other healthcare disruptions.
Now, the question is will bond buyers step up and purchase these high-risk bonds rated BB — with a negative outlook according to S&P.
Only the bond market knows.