NEW: Hospitals and Nursing Homes Urge RIDOH Director Alexander Scott to Deny Encompass Application
GoLocalProv News Team
NEW: Hospitals and Nursing Homes Urge RIDOH Director Alexander Scott to Deny Encompass Application
As GoLocal reported in March in "Battle Brewing Over New Hospital Proposal Tied to Mattiello’s Top Lobbyist:"
"Mark Ryan, the lobbyist for Twin River, National Grid, and the Providence Journal, has a new client — Encompass Health, an Alabama healthcare company.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe company is proposing to build a rehab facility in Johnston — a facility that Rhode Island’s healthcare industry and a consultant hired by the state’s Department of Health says is unnecessary and will adversely impact Rhode Island's already financially fragile healthcare industry."
Groups on Record
The association presidents noted the proposed facility in Johnston would "severely disrupt, and in some cases dismantle, the healthcare infrastructure which already offers plentiful rehabilitation options in RI. In addition, the imbalance in the system caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic would exacerbate the negative effect of the proposed facility on our healthcare system."
“We were surprised by the Council’s vote. Witness after witness came in front of the Council presenting solid facts and the independent consultant provided the clear evidence they needed to protect the health and well-being of our hospitals and employees,” HARI President Teresa Paiva Weed said.
The Health Services Council hearings earlier this year drew significant opposition from the state’s top healthcare facilities and healthcare experts who warned a new facility is not needed and would put existing facilities in peril. Despite a plethora of testimony and a report from the state’s own consultant discrediting the proposal, the Health Services Council approved the request three-two, with only five of the 11-member board voting. The Council’s decision is merely advisory, leaving the final decision in the hands of the RIDOH director.
Health Services Council Consultant Says No to Encompass
The Health Department retained expert and objective consultant assistance from the Faulkner Consulting Group to assess the Certificate of Need proposal. Their report concludes: “Encompass has not demonstrated that there is a substantial or obvious community need for a new facility.”
The Faulkner Group put forth significant findings to support this conclusion including:
· Rhode Island’s existing capacity is more than enough to support anticipated need for the next ten years;
· the current system in Rhode Island has twice the number of inpatient rehabilitation beds needed given current utilization rates; the addition of a new 50-bed facility would destabilize the existing inpatient rehabilitation system in Rhode Island and, ironically, threaten Encompass’s proposed facility;
· and, the new facility would have an adverse financial impact on the system because it would have to capture a majority share of statewide rehabilitation cases, resulting in a substantial shift in patient volume threatening the viability of the state’s existing rehabilitation facilities, which could impact local access to inpatient rehabilitation care and the hundreds of jobs existing at these facilities.
“We were shocked at the vote, as it seems the Council completely ignored the consultant’s report,” said Jim Nyberg, President of Leading Age. “We ask Dr. Alexander Scott to protect our existing healthcare system.”
RIHCA President and CEO Scott Fraser said, “Our nursing homes, already teetering on the edge, clearly stated at the hearings we would lose Medicare patients critical to our homes’ operations. Now, as ground zero for the COVID-19 pandemic, this move will exacerbate the issue and could put a number of our homes in financial jeopardy.”
“This proposed rehabilitation facility would result in unnecessary duplication of services, wasting valuable healthcare dollars. The Council’s three to two vote on a matter of such significance to our state, was disappointing. We call on Director Alexander Scott to deny this application and keep our hospitals and healthcare facilities viable,” Paiva Weed said.