Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin today announced that he has approved, with conditions, the proposed sale of Landmark Medical Center and Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island ("Landmark") to Steward Health Care System, LLC and affiliated entities ("Steward"), pursuant to the Hospital Conversions Act.
"I am pleased to announce the approval of, with reasonable conditions, the sale of Landmark to Steward. For nearly four years, the fate of Landmark has been in question, in terms of access to healthcare for Northern Rhode Island residents, as provider of good paying jobs, and as a generator of economic activity. Today's announcement, along with the recent approval by the Department of Health, allows the two entities to move forward with the proposed sale, and give greater certainty that access to quality healthcare services to area residents will continue," said Kilmartin.
Attorney General Kilmartin recognized Jodi Bourque, Assistant Attorney General and Health Care Advocate, and the cooperative partnership with the Department of Health in concluding the review and approval process nearly two months in advance of the statutory timeline.
"Jodi and the Department of Health dedicated the time and resources to a rigorous and diligent review that ensured both parties adhered to the letter and spirit of the HCA statute."
"With the rapidly-changing and highly competitive healthcare marketplace, we will continue to see increased pressure on community hospitals. It is critically important to the long-term success of those hospitals and the communities they serve that an unbiased, strict and thorough review be in place to allow regulators to protect the interests of the community, the employees and the state," concluded Kilmartin.