South County Hospital is losing money and some longtime clinicians — and its top administrators — are at odds with a group of doctors about what ails the hospital and how to treat it.
Patients and community members are joining a mounting public outcry over one of Rhode Island’s last remaining independently operated community hospitals. They are calling for state officials and political leaders to intervene to press for leadership changes.
Now, hospital officials are pushing back. They have created a website to respond to the negative publicity and enlisted one of the state’s top lobbying firms, Advocacy Solutions.
At a news conference at the hospital on Sept. 13, hospital officials said they had been misrepresented by the doctors’ group. Joseph F. Matthews, chairman of the hospital’s Board of Trustees, praised the hospital, its staff and leaders. He said the board had given a “unanimous vote of confidence” in the hospital’s CEO, Dr. Aaron S. Robinson, and the executive leadership team.
Matthews referred to “these challenging times,” and said the board recognizes the need for “greater engagement” with the public, which it plans to achieve through “interactive public forums” and soliciting patient participation.
This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.
