Lynn Arditi

Editor’s note: This story was updated Thursday, May 29, with the latest information. Butler Hospital and union negotiators are scheduled to return to the bargaining table with federal mediators Thursday as the two sides try to end a strike at the psychiatric hospital that has stretched into its second week. Union officials said that after […]

Butler Hospital and union negotiators returned to the bargaining table with federal mediators on Wednesday as the two sides try to end a strike at the psychiatric hospital that has stretched into its second week.  The bargaining session, originally scheduled to conclude at 4 p.m., was still in progress as of Wednesday evening.   “We’re ready […]

Hundreds of striking workers at Butler Hospital, on Providence’s East Side, received notices that their health benefits will be terminated at the end of the month. The psychiatric hospital operated by Care New England said in a May 16 letter to nurses, mental health workers and other staff who are members of the SEIU1199 New […]

Butler Hospital’s unionized nurses, mental health workers and other staff are expected to walk off their jobs at 6 a.m. on Thursday, as temporary agency staff prepare to step in to keep the psychiatric hospital on Providence’s East Side running. Butler Hospital will remain open, and provide “safe, compassionate, and uninterrupted care” during the strike, […]

The popularity of expensive weight-loss medications and other prescription drugs along with higher hospital costs are driving up health care spending in Rhode Island – more evidence, state regulators said, of why insurers need to reduce red tape for doctors and increase spending on primary care, according to a report released Monday.  The amount of […]

Brown University Health’s primary care group has eliminated its home care monitoring programs for about 700 patients diagnosed with heart failure, high blood pressure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD. The programs— terminated as of May 5 — allowed nurses and health coaches to remotely monitor patients by providing them with blood pressure cuffs, […]

Since Anchor Medical Associates announced it will close its primary care practice in Rhode Island on June 30 — leaving behind about 25,000 patients, including 7,000 children — doctors’ offices have been swamped with calls.    I know, because I’m one of their patients. The Monday after the news broke, I called close to a dozen […]

Unionized workers at Butler Hospital have voted to authorize a possible strike, saying the hospital’s operators at Care New England have refused to address concerns about workplace safety and wages.    Leadership of the SEIU District 1199 New England – which represents more than 4,000 workers in Rhode Island, including over 400 frontline staff at Butler […]

The Trump administration plans to cut off more than a half billion dollars in federal funding to Brown University, White House officials reportedly told The Brown Daily Herald and several national news outlets onThursday. The Associated Press, CNN and The New York Times are among the national news outlets reporting the administration plans to block […]

The state House of Representatives this week approved legislation to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines for children in Rhode Island even if the Trump administration rolls back federal approvals. The House voted 58-10 to approve a bill (H-5427A) to allow pharmacists to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to children age 3 or older. The bill, introduced […]