In a stunning move, Brown University President Christina Paxson has written a letter asserting that the acquisition of Care New England, an affiliate of Brown's Warren Alpert Medical School, by Partners HealthCare is not in the best interest of Rhode Island.
Paxton is instead advocating for an alternative plan in which Brown would team with Prospect Medical Holdings, which owns CharterCare Health Partners in Rhode Island.
In a letter to the university community, Paxton wrote, "I feel strongly that letting this acquisition go forward would be wrong for Rhode Island and for Brown. Doing so is likely to lead to specialty healthcare shifting to Massachusetts, impeding access to healthcare for Rhode Islanders and especially for members of the state’s underserved communities. It also would likely increase the cost of care and reduce the ability of Rhode Islanders — consumers, businesses, healthcare workers and policy-makers — to have a voice in how our healthcare system works.