BURRILLVILLE – The Faulkner Consulting Group recently completed their assessment of Rhode Island’s healthcare system, and has recommended creation a long-term acute care facility with approximately 100 beds, confirming the need for construction of the new hospital on Burrillville’s Zambarano campus.
The study reportedly looked at discharge data from hospitals in the state and assessed current and future needs, reviewing insurance claims, national benchmarks, and population demographics. According to a release from Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, it also sought input from leaders at Rhode Island hospitals, seeking their perspective on the need for a long-term acute care facility where patients could be transferred after receiving intensive care.
The assessment determined the state needs to maintain a long-term acute care hospital that is able to serve patients who need acute care and those who need extended services while they await appropriate discharge options, according to BHDDH.
Based on the research, Faulkner has recommended a long-term acute care facility with approximately 100 beds to serve patients needing hospital level care and those needing extended services.
“The study provides critical input as the state seeks to construct a new medical facility that will enable Eleanor Slater Hospital to fulfill a unique and much-needed role at its Burrillville campus,” noted a release.
“This research outlines the importance of a new facility and highlights the services that facility will provide. It also confirms the challenges that Rhode Island’s medical community has been contending with since the start of the pandemic, and the need for a facility to treat acute care patients as they are on the road to recovery,” said Richard Charest, director of BHDDH, which oversees Eleanor Slater Hospital. “This is an exciting time for Rhode Island and for Eleanor Slater Hospital, because the new hospital building at the Burrillville campus will support our continuum of care with enhanced care options, new job opportunities, expanded capacity, and modern amenities for all patients and staff.”
Members of the public are invited to attend a Community Town Hall on Thursday, May 4, at 1 p.m., to be streamed virtually via Microsoft Teams (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/join-a-meeting with Meeting ID: 234 830 961 227 and Passcode: mQU6yT, and in person at the Beazley Building Medical Library at 2090 Wallum Lake Road in Pascoag.
BHDDH officials say the meeting will provide an opportunity to learn more and share suggestions for the success of this project.
“With the Faulkner study results in hand, the state can now move forward with a review of architectural and engineering options that will determine the size and scope of the project,” noted BHDDH.
Once open, the new facility will replace current operations in Eleanor Slater Hospital’s Beazley building, which opened in 1905. Patients and staff currently in the Beazley building will reportedly transition to the new facility.
