What we're all about.

Better together, for a healthier Rhode Island.

Lifespan, Care New England and Brown share an important characteristic that makes them natural partners: Each is a not-for-profit organization that, consistent with its charitable purposes, is charged with serving the public good. In the case of Lifespan and Care New England, the core mission is to protect and improve the health of the communities they serve. In the case of Brown, and specifically The Warren Alpert Medical School and the School of Public Health, the mission is to improve health and health care through education, research and biomedical discovery.

The final piece is decreasing health disparities and increasing access to health care. Hospitals, health care providers and medical schools play the critical role of supporting communities and individuals who have different levels of health literacy, and making health care accessible.

If the providers of health care can join with the medical school to provide integrated care to families from the cradle to end-of-life, it’s going to make a big difference for people’s lives.

Our vision for Rhode Island.

Together, we are focused on:

We are better together

Together, we will amplify our focus on eliminating health disparities and improving the community health status as a primary focus of the integrated academic health system. Both Lifespan and Care New England have deep roots in the community and invest millions in community programs and services, and more than half of all of the doctors who have gone to The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University as both medical students and residents remain in the state to practice medicine in Rhode Island. An integration of health care systems with participation by the physicians of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and resulting research capabilities will bring about a broad range of community benefits from the complementary strengths of the three organizations:

We are better together

The integrated academic health system holds the promise of tight integration of and alignment between clinical care, population health management, medical education, biomedical research and innovation, and research on health care quality, effectiveness and cost.

We are better together

Rhode Island is unique among the 50 states with its regulatory structure through the state’s Office of Health Insurance Commissioner (OHIC), which caps the increase reimbursement rate insurers pay to hospitals.

In addition, both Lifespan and Care New England have voluntarily committed to support the governor’s health care cost trend initiative to hold the total annual health care spending increases to 3.2%. This initiative urges not only hospitals but the entire health care delivery system to limit both unit price increases as well as utilization demand, while meeting certain quality parameters that ensure the populations served are being treated equitably and at the highest standards.

OHIC regulation and the governor’s health care trend initiative help ensure a reliable expectation of premium costs for businesses who provide health benefits to their employees.

We are better together

The health care sector has traditionally been an economic mainstay, providing stability and job growth in communities. Hospitals are one of the top sources of good paying, private-sector jobs. The goods and services hospitals purchase from other businesses create additional economic value for the community.

We are better together

Lifespan and Care New England are complementary organizations, with little overlap in clinical services. Together, we will focus on retaining and attracting a diverse workforce, using data across all areas of system employment.

We are better together

Brown University is committed to providing a minimum of $125 million over five years in support of the development of the integrated academic health system. Brown will participate on the governing board of the newly merged health system and play a key role in integrating medical education and research with clinical practice across the combined system’s hospitals.

The creation of an integrated academic health system that brings together The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University with Lifespan and Care New England is an opportunity to integrate the expertise and capacity of three organizations to offer excellent, coordinated care to patients and create a unified academic medical center that can fuel discovery and treatments.

“Removing the separation between Care New England and Lifespan will improve our ability to serve the community’s health care needs, to optimally educate the next generation of medical professionals, to grow our combined research portfolios, and to contribute to the state’s plans to cultivate a thriving biomedical economy in Providence and Rhode Island.”

—Christina H. Paxson, PhD | President, Brown University

“If you learned from your doctor the devastating news that you had cancer, you want to go to a place that maximizes your chances of having a great outcome. You want to go to a place where you have the best care you can get from a diagnostic and therapeutic perspective — a place that does cancer research, but that also has the latest in protocol-driven therapies so you can be with your family for many years to come. And this is the difference that a unified academic medical center can make in patient lives. This is real.”

—Jack A. Elias, MD | Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Brown School of Public Health educate cadres of outstanding future physicians and public health practitioners, many of whom live and work in the region, contributing to bio-innovation and supporting quality care for patients. More than 50 percent of physicians who receive their education and training at Brown remain in the state.

The integration of health care systems and research will bring about the tight integration of and alignment between clinical care, population health management, medical education, biomedical research and innovation, and research on health care quality, effectiveness and cost.