Regulators Approve Nonprofit’s Purchase of Two R.I. Hospitals From Private Equity Firm

After a yearslong review process, state health regulators have granted final approval to the proposed sale of Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, opening the door for a nonprofit to take over ownership of the struggling Rhode Island hospitals from a for-profit private equity firm.

Otis Brown, a spokesman for the hospitals’ current operator CharterCARE, a subsidiary of Prospect Medical Holdings, said the group expects to finalize the sale in January 2025.

The buyer, a Georgia-based nonprofit called the Centurion Foundation, plans to pay for the hospitals with borrowed money raised through tax-exempt bonds. A quasi-public state agency that is facilitating the issuance of those bonds, the Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corporation, is still vetting the financial viability of the transaction.

Executive Director Dylan Zelazo said his agency’s final review is unlikely to be done in time for its monthly board meeting on Dec. 11.

This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.