The Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island was a hospital in

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls ...

, USA.

History

The hospital was founded through an 1894 bequest from William F. Sayles, a businessman and philanthropist who owned mills in

Saylesville, Rhode Island Saylesville is a village and historic district in Lincoln, Rhode Island. History The area was settled as a farming community in the 17th century. The historic Eleazer Arnold House (built 1693) is located near the village. The Saylesville Meeti ...

. Sayles' son, Frank A. Sayles, decided to build the original 30-bed hospital with the funds. Throughout the 20th century the size of the hospital expanded greatly. The hospital was a 294-bed facility serving the

Blackstone Valley The Blackstone Valley or Blackstone River Valley is a region of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was a major factor in the American Industrial Revolution. It makes up part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and Nation ...

of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. Memorial Hospital was a teaching affiliate of the

Warren Alpert Medical School The Warren Alpert Medical School (formerly known as Brown Medical School, previously known as Brown University School of Medicine) is the medical school of Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island. Originally established in 1811, ...

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. Other smaller facilities are located in Quality Hill, Plainville and Central Falls. In 2013 Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island merged with the Care New England (CNE) Health System, in affiliation with: Kent County Hospital,

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island is a women and infants' hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. It is the primary teaching hospital in obstetrics, gynecology, and newborn pediatrics of the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown Univers ...

, and

Butler Hospital Butler Hospital is a private, non-profit, psychiatric and substance abuse hospital for adolescents, adults, and seniors, located at 345 Blackstone Boulevard in Providence, Rhode Island. The hospital is affiliated with the Warren Alpert Medical Sch ...

Closure

On October 18, 2017, Care New England announced its plans to close Memorial Hospital, which had been struggling financially for the past ten years. The financial decline accelerated after mismanagement by Care New England after they acquired the hospital in 2013. This was worsened by the creation of new ambulatory CNE practices within the traditional catchment area of MHRI that funneled patients away from Memorial and to CNE's other member hospitals. This enabled CNE to create a situation in which patient volume decreased at Memorial Hospital, which in turn could be used as an excuse to further downsize. In the summer of 2016, the maternity ward was closed. The hospital's intensive care unit was closed in December 2017 and its emergency room was closed on January 1, 2018. The building was transitioned into an outpatient care center to cut costs. In April 2018, CharterCare announced plans to purchase Memorial Hospital, but Care New England expressed doubt as to whether the hospital could be re-opened.

References

External links

Official Website
{{authority control Teaching hospitals in Rhode Island Defunct hospitals in Rhode Island 1894 establishments in Rhode Island Brown University Buildings and structures in Providence, Rhode Island Hospitals established in 1894 Hospitals disestablished in 2018

History

Closure

See also

References

External links