All Entries in the "Health & Healthcare" Category
CharterCARE offers to invest $10M in Memorial, plans revival starting with ER, CNE downplays plan
PAWTUCKET — CharterCare Health Partners CEO John J. Holiver and Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien announced Thursday that the hospital system plans to buy the Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island building and has committed $10 million for capital improvements, returning medical services there in stages, starting with emergency care.
A spokesman for CharterCare said the company’s total offer to Care New England, which shut down Memorial Nov. 11, has not been sent to CNE yet.
Holiver said the $10 million would cover both outfitting the emergency center as well as the anticipated medical staff. He said he couldn’t estimate the company’s possible offer on the entire former Memorial Hospital campus.
“It’s too early to tell,” Holiver said.
Eventually, CharterCare plans to restore all medical services at the building. Efforts to draft the plan to restore services at the Memorial Hospital building began at the request of Grebien.
CharterCare jointly owns Roger Williams Medical Center, Fatima Hospital, St. Joseph Health Center and Elmhurst Extended Care with Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. of California through a joint venture, Prospect CharterCARE LLC.
In January, Prospect and Brown University announced their competing bid to purchase Care New England as an alternative to the absorption of the health care system by Boston-based Partners HealthCare of Massachusetts. CNE and Partners have a standing exclusive agreement to pursue a merger, but the deal hinges on state approval.
Thursday morning, Holiver said their plan for Memorial Hospital is a separate issue from the Brown University-Prospect proposal.
Originally CNE planned to sell off Memorial to Prime Healthcare as part of the Partners deal, but continuing losses at the Pawtucket institution led the local hospital system to close it. The closure affected approximately 700 employees, limited access to hospital care in the Blackstone Valley and caused an emergency room crisis when other local hospital emergency rooms were inundated with an overflow of patients during the winter flu season, one that was described by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as “intense.”
Care New England had a quick reaction to the news. Jim Beardsworth, spokesman for the health care system said in a statement: “We made the difficult decision more than six months ago to close Memorial Hospital and begin transitioning the facility into an outpatient center. In the process, we preserved 200 local jobs and positioned community-based health care for a solid future. Today’s announcement by Prospect Health/CharterCare certainly comes as a surprise, as there has been no previous discussion or formal proposal submitted to Care New England.
“Any plan to reopen the closed facility, as suggested today, is simply unfeasible, especially since we previously had conversations with CharterCare about buying Memorial and those proved fruitless. Today’s announcement represents nothing more than an opportunity to muddy the health care landscape with an ill-conceived plan with no true thought for serving the community need.”
When the R.I. Department of Health approved Care New England’s reverse certificate of need application to close Memorial Hospital’s emergency department in December 2017, it set a number of conditions related to the loss of emergency room services:
- CNE will provide $300,000 to Pawtucket and $200,000 to Central Falls each year for two years to offset emergency medical services costs associated with transporting patients to other hospitals
- CNE will establish a transportation plan for patients and patients’ families so that individuals with nonemergency chronic conditions won’t have to incur additional costs associated with traveling to receive services that are only offered at another hospital
- CNE must maintain Memorial Hospital’s Family Care and Internal Medicine Centers in Pawtucket at their current hours and staffing levels
- CNE will invest $100,000 annually in the Pawtucket and Central Falls Health Equity Zones. Rhode Island’s HEZs are nine distinct areas throughout the state where organizations are coming together to put health programs and policies in place to prevent chronic diseases, improve birth outcomes, and improve the socioeconomic and environmental conditions of their neighborhoods
Rhode Island Limb adds physical therapy to services
RHODE ISLAND LIMB has recently begun offering physical therapy services at its East Greenwich location. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND LIMB
EAST PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island Limb Co., a 75-year-old, third-generation, family-owned prosthetic and orthotic practice, is adding physical therapy to its services.
“We are very excited to join the expertise of prosthetics, orthotics and physical therapy to create a dynamic team to meet the needs of the community,” Rhode Island Limb said in a statement.
The business will host an open house to launch its new physical therapy clinic in East Greenwich at 2850 South County Trail, Suite 3, on April 13 from 4 to 7 p.m. to allow the public to tour the new facility and enjoy light refreshments.
Owner Jonathan Teoli has worked at the family business, Rhode Island Limb Co. in Cranston, for 19 years, the last five side by side with his father, the second-generation owner, before his retirement.
Teoli’s grandfather, Albert, who had lost a leg to a Japanese sniper in 1945 during World War II, bought a half ownership in the company and eventually worked to acquire the whole thing, according to a Providence Journal article posted on the Rhode Island Limb website.
In addition to its East Greenwich location, the company has offices in Pawtucket and Middletown.
New campaign launched to enhance independence and choice in Rhode Island’s home care system
Advocates urge passage of legislation ahead of a growing demand from an aging population.
STATE HOUSE – Legislators, senior advocates, home care workers and allies today announced the launch of the Rhode Island Campaign for Home Care Independence and Choice, an effort to provide seniors and individuals living with physical disabilities more options when determining their long term care setting. The new campaign announced its support of passing legislation in 2018 that would create an “Independent Provider” option, a successful home care model in several other states including Massachusetts.
Currently Rhode Island lags behind several states with Independent Provider models in terms of providing access to consistent high quality home care.
Sen. Maryellen Goodwin (D-Dist. 1, Providence), the Senate sponsor of the bill (2018 S-2734), said, “Presently, Rhode Island ranks 42nd in the nation in terms of investment in home care. 90 percent of older Americans prefer home care. Not only is it more comfortable for seniors, it’s more cost-effective, as we’ve seen in states like Massachusetts. High-quality home care is what people want, and it saves money. We’re proud to support this effort to help make excellent home care available to more Rhode Islanders.”
Expanding access and choice in long term care settings is critical for the aging baby boomer population. By 2035, it is expected one in four Rhode Islanders will be over 65.
Rep. Christopher R. Blazejewski (D-Dist. 2, Providence), the House sponsor of the bill (2018-H 7803), said, “There is little question that people prefer to stay in their homes as long as possible. Particularly now, as the over-65 population in our state is rapidly expanding, Rhode Island must shift more of our long-term care resources toward supporting home care. Our legislation will help provide more options for home-based services, enhance access to them and establish standards that assure high-quality care.”
Bill Flynn, Executive Director of Senior Agenda Coalition said, “We know that nearly all seniors, even those living with chronic illnesses or disabilities, have a strong desire to age in their own homes. Creating an Independent Provider program in Rhode Island will provide a new and proven option for seniors needing home care. It will give seniors the power to hire their own caregivers, and we believe it will improve quality of their care because they will have control of the quality of their own care.”
A comprehensive literature review showed that consumers in states with Independent Provider models experienced higher levels of client satisfaction and autonomy, received more stable worker matches, improved medical outcomes, and reduced unmet need with agencies delivering fewer hours of care relative to the needs of the consumer.
David Oppenheimer, a North Kingstown resident who struggled to find consistent reliable help for his father through the existing home care network said, “As I get older, long term care is something I am thinking about again. My wife and I hope to live in our home for a very long time. Having a home care system that is prepared to meet the needs of my generation is extremely important to me.”
High-quality services and care require that caregivers are paid a living wage in order develop and maintain a stable and reliable workforce with low turnover. Most home care workers in Rhode Island earn between $11 and $12.50 per hour.
Satta Jangaba, a caregiver from Providence, said, “I worked with my home care client for years and we became like family. I moved on to a nursing home so I can make a better living, but I worry all the time about my client. Now that I’m not there, she has been passed around to several different CNAs – the agency constantly changes their schedules and my client is left without any care. I wish I could go back to being her provider, but there’s no way I could afford to live on the $10.50 an hour they paid.”
The Rhode Island Campaign for Independence and Choice is comprised of the following organizations: Senior Agenda Consortium, RI Working Families Party, RI Organizing Project, District 1199 SEIU New England, RI AFL-CIO, Economic Progress Institute and the RI Chapter of the National Organization of Women (NOW).
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Whitty, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-1923
Dr. Afshin Nasseri
Afshin Nasseri
Afshin Nasseri (born 24 April 1963 in Tehran, Iran) is an Internist. He has been practicing at several medical centers and clinics in USA and got training for Primary care, Emergency, & ICU care . In 2014, he received “On-time Promptness Award”.
Nasseri frequently takes part in free healthcare programs which are globally conducted by GRACE Cares including the Lucknow project which is held in India yearly.
Contribution in Public health
Afshin Nasseri and his family members take participation for the welfare of society. He represents GRACE Cares NGO and organizes healthcare camps for teachers and students at remote districts. Under the recent Lucknow project, Nasseri offered free health check-ups and medicinal prescription services in several local schools of Amethi location and other rural areas. Since 2005, he has been associated with this project and conducts for the betterment of health & hygienic conditions in the society.
Education
- Residency Program on Internal Medicine, 1996-1999 batch from The Brown University and Boston University
- Doctor in Medicine (MD), 1989-1993 batch from Universidad Eugenio María de Hostos.
- Accounting and Management Program, 1984 to 1988 batch from Concordia University
Career
- Primary Care Internist at “Landmark Senior Health Center”, July 2000 to November 2000.
- Senior Attending Physician at “ Landmark Senior Health Center”, November 2000 to November 2003.
- Attending Physician at “East Coast Primary Care, Inc.”, November 2003 to April 2008.
- Hospitalist at Harrington Memorial Hospital, Primary Care Clinic”, May 2008 to May 2010.
Affiliation
Attending Physician
- Kent County Hospital, Warwick, RI & Miriam Hospital, Providence, RI for 2012
- Harrington Memorial Hospital, Webster, MA for 2008 to 2010
- Landmark Medical Center, Woonsocket, RI for 2000 to 2007
- Caritas Norwood Hospital, Norwood, MA for 2004 to 2006
- Oakland Grove Nursing Home, Woonsocket, RI for 2000-2004
Supervising Physician
- Landmark Heart Center, Woonsocket, RI, USA from 2000 to 2004.
Residency
- Internal Medicine, Roger Williams Medical Center, Providence, RI for 1997to 1999
Intern
- Roger Williams Medical Center, Providence, RI for 1996 to 1997
Honors & Fellowships
Memberships
- Cool Sculpting Certified Practice
- American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS)
- Woonsocket Medical Society
- American Bariatric Medicine Society
- Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
- American College of Physicians
- Rhode Island Medical Licensure
Awards
- Compassionate Doctor Recognition Award, (2010)
- American Medical Association Physician Recognition Award
Teaching Associate in Medicine Award by “Boston University School of Medicine”.
