§ 23-17.25-1. Legislative findings. (1) Certain community hospitals act as the sole source of immediate access to hospital care for residents of the areas they serve and are essential to the maintenance of public health and safety;

(2) The diversity of services provided by these essential community hospitals are necessary for the overall health and safety of the community, but result in financial distress for the hospitals that must serve large uninsured or governmentally insured populations;

(3) The distressed essential community hospitals generally report a loss from operations and are in such a position that their liabilities exceed their assets;

(4) Because of the important medical services provided by such hospitals, restoring and ensuring the continued financial viability of these distressed essential community hospitals is necessary for the public health and safety;

(5) Landmark Medical Center, located in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, is a distressed essential community hospital, currently under the supervision of the Rhode Island superior court pursuant to a special mastership;

(6) In fiscal year 2009, Landmark Medical Center provided care for nearly forty thousand (40,000) emergency room patients, seven thousand (7,000) inpatient cases and seventy-five thousand (75,000) outpatient visits, proving that the financial viability of Landmark Medical Center is vital to the public health and safety of the community it serves;

(7) Ensuring the financial viability of Landmark Medical Center will preserve one thousand three hundred (1,300) jobs and benefit the State of Rhode Island;

(8) Landmark Medical Center, or its successor-in-interest, if any, must be permitted a sufficient amount of time to use any funds allocated to it for the purposes of financial assistance to restore its financial viability and ensure its stability in the future; and

(9) To preserve the viability of an essential community hospital, it may be necessary for purposes of certain Medicare classifications to designate such a hospital as a rural hospital.

History of Section. (P.L. 2010, ch. 154, § 1; P.L. 2010, ch. 155, § 1.)