GA Committees to Hear Hospital Conversions Bill

A bill filed at the request of Steward Health Care System, the company that has applied to purchase , could eliminate a requirement in the hospital conversions laws that a for-profit operator must wait three years after it acquires one hospital in Rhode Island before acquiring any other hospital in the state.

The House Corporations Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow on the legislation (2012-H 7283), sponsored by House Majority Leader Nicholas A. Mattiello, to lift limits on the purchase of hospitals in Rhode Island by for-profit companies. The hearing is scheduled tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 7, at the rise of the House session (around 4:30 p.m.) in Room 313 on the third floor of the State House.

Senator Roger A. Picard (D-Dist. 20, Woonsocket, Cumberland) has filed the bill (2012-S 2180) in the Senate. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee is scheduled to hear that bill Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in the Senate Lounge on the second floor of the State House.

Although they are behind the bill, Steward Health Care System, which owns 10 Massachusetts hospitals, has not announced any efforts involving other Rhode Island facilities at this time.