Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch today issued the following comment announcing that he has approved the proposed affiliation between St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island and Roger Williams Medical Center, with minor conditions. The RI Department of Health, the other state agency that is required to review and approve affiliation applications according to the Hospital Conversions Act, approved the affiliation in July.

“I am pleased to announce that I have approved the affiliation of St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island and Roger Williams Medical Center and Roger Williams Hospital pursuant to the state’s Hospital Conversions Act and common law concerning charitable assets. These hospitals have submitted their affiliation plans to a rigorous review, and as a result, I am hopeful that these two important charitable institutions, which truly are cornerstones in our community, will continue to provide vital health-care services to Rhode Islanders for generations to come.

“The two factors that drove our review process more than any other were, one, ensuring that the newly created CharterCARE Health Partners delivers the same access to health care that the two institutions previously provided separately; and two, quite simply, the preservation of jobs. In the hyper-competitive and rapidly changing health-care marketplace, it was, and is, essential that the smaller community hospitals remain strong and well positioned to succeed.

“This affiliation could not have been successfully completed without the cooperation of both hospitals and their staffs, as well as my colleague, Dr. Gifford, and his staff at the Department of Health. I appreciate all involved for their hard work and expertise.”

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