Warwick Beacon article: Speaker lauded for helping Kent Hospital ‘stand alone’
From the Warwick Beacon:
Legislative action enabling Kent Hospital and its larger entity, Care New England, to remain sustainable non profit institutions came down to two considerations for House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi: community healthcare and jobs.
“You have both here,” Shekarchi told an assembly of Kent Hospital employees, union officials and Charles Reppucci, chair of the CNE Board of Directors Tuesday morning from the hospital board room.
Shekarchi played a key role in the allocation of $11 million to CNE of the $45 million that the state budgeted from State Fiscal Recovery funds to support hospitals. Overall, Shekarchi said financial assistance to CNE is “north of $20 million.”
“This is not a gift,” said Shekarchi, “you earned it.” He added it was fortunate the state had the funds to help.
In a show of appreciation, CNE brought together its people, giving Shekarchi a tour of the hospital and a welcome spotlight in his bid for reelection. The Warwick representative faces a Democratic primary and, should he win that, a contest from a Republican in the General Election. Speakers applauded Shekarchi’s leadership but offered few specifics other that citing cooperative efforts with Brown University and other healthcare institutions to keep CNE and Kent Hospital independent.