Rhode Island-based Lifespan Health System and Brown University have finalized the terms of a series of expanded affiliation agreements.
As part of the agreement, Lifespan will undergo a rebranding process over the coming months and will change its name to Brown University Health later this year. Lifespan and Brown will not merge, neither organization will purchase any part of the other, and will remain separate and independent. For these reasons, the enhanced agreement did not require regulatory or legislative approval, the organizations said.
The nonprofit organization, Lifespan, was founded by Rhode Island Hospital and Miriam Hospital in 1994. An integrated academic health system with the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Lifespan’s current partners include Pediatrics at Rhode Island Hospital, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Bradley Hospital, Newport Hospital, Gateway Healthcare, Lifespan Physician Group and Coastal Medical.
The agreement also includes reciprocal financial investments between Lifespan and Brown University, with both schools remaining separate, independent organizations after Lifespan rebrands as Brown University College of Health and Medicine. Brown University will invest between $15 million and $25 million annually in Lifespan, totaling $150 million over seven years, to strengthen Lifespan’s financial capacity and sustain and advance the shared academic mission of both organizations. Following this period, Lifespan will invest $15 million annually to support the teaching and research activities of the Warren Alpert Medical School.
“We are excited to move forward with strong plans to expand our facilities and improve our systems and technology so we can compete with new entrants in the health care market, including national chains,” Lifespan president and CEO John Fernandez said in a statement. “This strengthened relationship with Brown is part of the solution to ensure our health care system continues to provide Rhode Islanders with opportunities to receive quality care close to home.”
Brown University President Christina H. Paxson said the agreement advances Brown’s goal of ensuring that medical students, residents and fellows have the opportunity to train with the latest technology and techniques and learn from outstanding clinicians. Brown’s investment is expected to accelerate improvements, she said, including the expansion of electronic health records and the recruitment of talented academic and clinical leaders as caregivers and deans at Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School and its affiliated hospitals.
“Brown and Lifespan are taking important steps to strengthen their longstanding partnership with the goal of improving the health of Rhode Island families through both medical advancements and cutting-edge medical training for the next generation of physicians,” Paxson said in a statement. “These agreements also strengthen the efforts we’ve made over the years to integrate research and break down barriers for physicians and scientists who translate laboratory discoveries into treatments that benefit patients.”
The agreement was voted on by Lifespan’s board of directors and Brown University Corporation, which each approved a non-binding term sheet directing their leadership teams to negotiate an extension and expansion of the affiliation agreement between the two organizations. Lifespan and Brown have a longstanding affiliation, with Rhode Island Hospital designated as the primary teaching hospital for Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School, the state’s only medical school. The affiliation dates back to 1969, before the university established a four-year medical program.
Fernandez said Lifespan’s long-standing lack of adequate funding has hindered its ability to keep up with needed infrastructure investments.
The agreement outlines financial investments to address these challenges and establish deeper collaborations between Brown and Lifespan Universities in clinical care, medical education, population health, public health and biomedical research.
“Ensuring our facilities, systems and technology are not only modern but cutting edge is essential to compete with out-of-state companies, new entrants to the market and large national providers, especially those that are for-profit,” Fernandez said. “Equally important is investing in workforce development to retain our existing top clinicians and employees and recruit the best of the future. This strengthened relationship is one step in a broader effort to ensure Rhode Island can continue to provide access to the highest quality health care locally while simultaneously creating high-paying job opportunities for years to come.”