RIAG and RIDOH to hold final public comment meeting tonight from 6-8 on proposed Lifespan-CNE merger
Written comments will be accepted through tomorrow, February 11, 2022
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Attorney General and the Rhode Island Department of Health will hold the third and final virtual public comment meeting concerning the proposed merger of Lifespan and Care New England (CNE) tonight from 6pm-8pm.
More than 500 people combined virtually attended the first two public comment meetings to share their input on the proposed merger. Those transcripts and recordings are available now on www.riag.ri.gov and www.health.ri.gov.
Sign up here to provide public comment at tonight’s meeting.
Virtual meeting access information:
- February 10, 2022
6pm-8pm
Meeting ID: 94511682732
Meeting Passcode: 7874280
+1 669 900 6833 or +1 346 248 7799 US Toll
If joining from an H.323/SIP room system: Dial: 162.255.37.11 (US West) or 162.255.36.11 (US East)
If accommodations are needed to ensure equal participation, please contact the
Attorney General’s Public Information Officer at (401) 274-4400 ext. 2234
prior to the public information meeting.
Written comment
The Attorney General and RIDOH are also accepting written comments regarding the proposed transaction through tomorrow, February 11, 2022. Written comments may be forwarded to:
Maria R. Lenz
Assistant Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
150 South Main Street Providence, RI 02903
Fernanda Lopes, MPH,
Chief, Office of Health Systems Development
Rhode Island Department of Health
Three Capitol Hill, Room 410 Providence, RI 02908
All written comments will be made available on the Attorney General Office’s web site: Welcome | Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office (ri.gov) and the RIDOH web site: Home: Department of Health (ri.gov)
Merger application available online for public review
The transacting parties’ application is available on the RIAG web site here: https://www.riag.ri.gov/about-our-office/divisions-and-units/civil-division/public-protection/healthcare and the RIDOH web site here: https://health.ri.gov/programs/hospitalconversionsmerger/.
The Lifespan/CNE application was deemed complete and accepted for review on November 16, 2021. Prior to being made public, the application and all attached documents were subject to a confidentiality review, which is required by the Hospital Conversions Act. As part of this review, Lifespan and CNE requested that documents or parts of documents they consider confidential be withheld from public disclosure. Those requests were reviewed by the Attorney General and anything deemed to be confidential, such as confidential business/propriety information and personally identifiable information, was redacted or withheld from this public disclosure.
A complete list of all the documents submitted as part of the application – including documents deemed confidential and the reasons why – is available here. (Application_confidentiality_review.pdf)
Under the HCA, the deadline for a decision approving, approving with conditions, or denying the transaction falls 120 days from the date of completeness. In this case, the deadline remains March 16, 2022.
