Under the proposal, the hospitals, which represent the state’s only two open heart programs, would merge their open heart services within six to nine months. Miriam hospital would move its open-heart program to Rhode Island Hospital, which currently performs 60 percent of open-heart procedures in the state. Each hospital would keep its own cardiology programs, according to the report.
All elective joint replacements would move to Miriam, where a Bone and Joint Center of Excellence would be established.
The mergers of these services are the first step in a plan to merge Miriam and Rhode Island Hospitals into a single institution with two campuses, according to the report. The plan to eventually merge the two institutions was announced last summer.
Read the Providence Journal‘s report on the Miriam and Rhode Island Hospitals merger.
