Rhode Island

Decades of inaction have wrought R.I.’s primary care crisis. We must address it right now, then nurse the state back to health. – The Boston Globe

Published

7 months ago

April 16, 2025

Decades of inaction have wrought R.I.’s primary care crisis. We must address it right now, then nurse the state back to health. – The Boston Globe

Yet, as a state, we have not properly maintained the health of our primary care environment, nor have we responded to the signs of its disintegration.

Now we must respond to a full-blown crisis.

Just as a person who suffers a heart attack receives emergency care and then is often advised to adopt lifestyle changes to restore their health, our state must deal with this crisis with emergency measures, as well as with medium- and long-term efforts to sustain and strengthen primary care.

While our Department of Health and Executive Office of Health and Human Services work to try to keep Anchor’s providers in Rhode Island, we and our Senate colleagues are working to enact legislation addressing Rhode Island’s shortage of primary care providers in the near and long term.

One root cause is clear: Primary care is reimbursed by health insurance at much lower rates than specialties, making it difficult for debt-burdened young providers to choose primary care when entering practice. Rhode Island is further disadvantaged in recruiting and keeping those who do go into primary care because our immediate neighbors are paying clinicians significantly more.

Senator Sosnowski has advocated for improved and equitable insurance payments to hospitals and providers for years. We must address reimbursement rates as an immediate step to maintain our current providers and recruit more to practice primary care here. That effort must include a Medicaid rate review for primary care providers now, not in 2027 as is proposed in the governor’s budget. It’s going to take continuing, coordinated effort to ensure our rates don’t force doctors to leave for surrounding states with higher rates, or choose other specialties.

Another immediate need is addressing the extra stressors on our primary care providers. Senator DiMario has focused on better supporting the incredibly under-resourced mental health system that would help PCPs and patients alike. We must also demand that insurers reduce the needless administrative burdens they place on primary care providers, and increase patients’ access to specialists to decrease time demands on PCPs. The R.I. Senate has focused on resolving these issues, and we currently have many bills under consideration to accomplish those goals.

Rhode Island must also make a concerted effort to encourage medical students to specialize in primary care, and to choose Rhode Island when they graduate. Senator Lauria has introduced bills that focus on those goals. One would fund four primary care residency positions annually at a community-based health care organization that provides primary care and support services to underserved populations, increasing our workforce and supporting these critical agencies. In addition, reducing student loan debt, scholarships for students entering medical school and studying to become nurse practitioners or physician’s assistants in exchange for a commitment to specialize in primary care and work in Rhode Island are all current proposals under consideration.

As we work to improve our primary care workforce, we must also build in a mechanism for accountability to consistently meet the health care needs of our communities. We need specific targets, action plans, and ongoing monitoring to first ensure every Rhode Islander has access to a primary care provider, and then to take earlier corrective action in the future, so we do not face this crisis again.

We are all members of the Senate’s commission exploring the education and retention of primary care providers in Rhode Island, whose charge, in part, is to consider the possibility of establishing a medical school at University of Rhode Island. While this commission’s work is ongoing, the possibility of a public educational pipeline graduating doctors right here in Rhode Island holds promise for sustainably addressing our shortage of primary care providers.

Our current primary care crisis is the product of decades of inaction. We urge our colleagues across state government to work collaboratively right now, and in the future, to nurse it back to health.

Senators Pamela J. Lauria (D-Dist. 32, Barrington, Bristol, East Providence), V. Susan Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, South Kingstown) and Alana M. DiMario (D-Dist. 26, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham) are members of a Senate commission studying the education and retention of primary care physicians and the feasibility of establishing a medical school at URI.

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Rhode Island

Police ID man hit, killed by car in Cranston

Published

16 hours ago

November 15, 2025

Press Room

Police ID man hit, killed by car in Cranston

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) — Cranston police have identified the man who was hit and killed by a car on Atwood Avenue Friday evening.

Major Todd Patalano said the man was 80-year-old Richard Viti, of Cranston.

Police were called Friday evening to the area of 700 Atwood Avenue for reports of a pedestrian who was hit by a car. Investigators say Viti was crossing the street to get to the San Bernardo Society.

The driver, who has not yet been identified, faces charges of operating on a suspended license and operating an unregistered vehicle, according to Patalano.

There may be more charges the driver is facing as the investigation is still in its early stages, Patalano explained.

Viti was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Patalano said the driver is cooperating with authorities.

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Rhode Island

RI Lottery Mega Millions, Lucky For Life winning numbers for Nov. 14, 2025

Published

1 day ago

November 15, 2025

Press Room

The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Nov. 14, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Mega Millions numbers from Nov. 14 drawing

01-08-11-12-57, Mega Ball: 07

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Nov. 14 drawing

14-19-34-42-43, Lucky Ball: 13

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Numbers numbers from Nov. 14 drawing

Midday: 2-1-0-8

Evening: 2-6-8-7

Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Wild Money numbers from Nov. 14 drawing

04-05-12-14-23, Extra: 31

Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
Winners of the Lucky for Life top prize of $1,000 a day for life and second prize of $25,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.

When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Rhode Island

Newport Hospital earns top ranking – What’s Up Newp

Published

2 days ago

November 14, 2025

Press Room

Newport Hospital earns top ranking – What’s Up Newp

Newport Hospital was among several hospitals in Rhode Island that achieved an A rating from the hospital watchdog group Leapfrog in its fall ratings. Three hospitals – Roger Williams Medical Center, Kent, and South County were awarded C or below, a pattern of declining ratings over the last few years.

Additionally, Women and Infants Hospital declined to participate in Leapfrog’s survey, according to Leapfrog. The group surveys more than 2,000 hospitals nationwide twice a year.

Both Fatima and Roger Williams are owned by California-based Prospect Medical Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy several months ago. There have been efforts to sell the hospitals while maintaining both of them open.

Women and Infants is part of the Care New England Group, which also includes Kent Hospital, whose safety rating has steadily declined over the last few years.

Leapfrog, which conducted the survey, is a well-respected hospital watchdog group that describes itself as “the nation’s gold standard in evaluating hospital performance on national measures of safety, quality, and efficiency in both inpatient and outpatient areas.”

Hospital safety is critical, with surveys suggesting that as many as 440,000 patients die annually because of hospital safety errors. Studies suggest that preventable medical errors are the third leading cause of death in America.

Leapfrog assigns rankings, A to F, based on issues involving infections, surgical problems, safety concerns, and practices to prevent errors. Within each of these areas are also several measures.

Earning A ratings for the fall of 2025 were Newport, Miriam, Rhode Island, and Westerly Hospitals. Newport, Miria,m and Rhode Island are part of Brown University Health (formerly Lifespan), while Westerly is part of the Yale/New Haven group. Landmark Hospital in Woonsocket received a B rating; Kent, Fatima and South received C ratings; and Roger Williams Medical Center received a D rating.

Several trends were also evident. Newport and Miriam Hospitals have been trending up, scoring B in the spring and fall of 2022, but in 2023 reaching an A rating, and remaining there. Rhode Island fell to a C in the fall of 2023, rising to B in both surveys in 2024, and in the two reports in 2025 have achieved an A rating.

Landmark has been consistently A-rated since 2022, with the only exception being a B in one of the reports in 2024. Westerly has been rising, from a C in the spring of 2022 to an A in 2025. Fatima has been C-rated with only one exception, a B in the fall of 2022. Roger Williams also consistently received a C until this fall, when its ranking dropped to D.

South County had ranged between A and B, falling to C this fall.

For those hospitals that trended lower, a significant problem appears to be effective leadership to help prevent errors. “Effective leadership to prevent errors: Errors are much more common if hospital leaders don’t make patient safety a priority. Leaders must make sure that all hospital staff know what they need to work on and that they are held accountable for improvements.”

South County, which is Rhode Island’s only independent hospital, experienced a disruption among physicians several months ago, in a rift with the administration that apparently has yet to heal.

Leadership, or lack of leadership, was also noted for other hospitals not performing well.

Meanwhile, other issues remain: healthcare – the lack of primary care physicians (nationwide); the study to determine whether to build a second medical school at the University of Rhode Island; and the threatened closure of Roger Williams and Fatima Hospitals.

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