The Hospital Association of Rhode Island (HARI) is a statewide trade organization that assists member hospitals in effectively meeting the health care needs of Rhode Island through advocacy, representation, education, and services.
Download the full report
HARI ensures the needs and perspectives of members are heard and addressed in:
- State and national health policy development
- Legislative and regulatory debates
- Health system transformation and innovation
Message from the President and Chairman of the Board
Perhaps more than ever we are proud to share this report of HARI’s achievements over the past two years with you. It is hard to adequately convey the stunning and continuing effects of COVID19 on Rhode Island, our nation, and the world. The pandemic has challenged our health care system in ways we could not have imagined. Throughout, hospitals and health care workers have demonstrated resilience, courage, flexibility, and compassion in caring for our families and neighbors afflicted with the disease.
In the face of such daunting challenges HARI proudly advocated for financial, regulatory and workforce relief for our hospitals on both federal and state levels. Over the past two years HARI has devoted significant efforts to working with our federal delegation to ensure that the issues of importance to our hospitals are heard and understood. The results are impressive - HARI successfully contributed to obtaining over $500M in payments and support for hospitals in Rhode Island in the past two years. To date hospitals in Rhode Island have received over $410M in COVID-19 relief funds, and the state FY2021 and FY2022 budgets provide for over $100M in Medicaid increases and tax relief. In addition, HARI advocated for the reinstatement of the imputed rural floor which the RI federal delegation secured in the March 2021 COVID relief bill. This will provide approximately $28M to hospitals annually.
Since January 2020 the HARI team has focused on working with state agencies, community partners, hospitals and their workforces on issues such as sourcing personal protective equipment (PPE), defining appropriate visitation policies, communicating key information and providing regular updates to members, advocating and coordinating housing and day-care for front-line workers, reporting required data to the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH), gaining media exposure for the issues facing hospitals and advocating for the expansion of telehealth – and more.
While the focus has been on COVID-19, HARI has maintained its commitment to supporting clinical and quality initiatives, expanding education opportunities by forging a partnership with the Massachusetts Hospitals and Health Association, providing representation on key regulatory bodies, and leading member peer support groups.
This next year will present its own challenges as we adapt to new administrations on both the national and state level and learn to coexist with the pandemic and its effects on the financial, operational, regulatory and workforce issues facing our hospitals. As we seek to rebuild and transform health care, we will also focus on important issues such as equity, behavioral health, and the opioid crisis. Finally, we will strengthen the peer work groups and services for our members. Having successfully risen to the challenges of the pandemic we are confident that together we will make great strides towards accomplishing these goals.
Sincerely,
Teresa Paiva Weed
President
Hospital Association of Rhode Island
Michael Souza
Chairman of the Board
Hospital Association of Rhode Island
Chief Executive Officer
Landmark Med
Download the full report to read more
