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Most, but not all, Rhode Island hospitals get good report cards from national ranking group • Rhode Island Current

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Most, but not all, Rhode Island hospitals get good report cards from national ranking group • Rhode Island Current


Four Rhode Island hospitals — Newport, Miriam, South County and Westerly — received top marks in the fall report from Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit that grades hospitals on safety. 

The Washington, D.C.-based Leapfrog assigns hospitals letter grades based on data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as well as Leapfrog’s own surveys. Rhode Island’s hospitals didn’t perform much differently than they did in spring 2024 (The Miriam and Newport have consistently earned A’s the past two years), with two notable exceptions. Westerly’s A is its first since 2022. Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, which has received nine consecutive A grades, dropped to a B.

Kent Hospital and Rhode Island Hospital also received B grades. The embattled Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center both earned C grades. 

Rhode Island’s hospitals collectively ranked seventh nationwide.

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South County Hospital’s good report card was a boon to Dr. Kevin Charpentier, the vice president and chief medical officer at South County Health, the hospital’s parent company.  

“It’s more than a score — it’s a promise to our community of prioritizing the highest level of patient care,” Charpentier wrote in an email.

The score was also a bit of good news amid an ongoing dispute between the hospital’s administration and its staff. A September letter sent by doctors and nurses to the South County Health’s board of trustees detailed escalating tensions between providers and management, with doctor resignations, service cuts and growing patient backlogs among the signatories’ concerns.       

 Landmark’s B left its CEO Mike Souza disappointed.

“We take quality very seriously and our team has already put plans in place to address the areas needing improvement,” Souza said in an emailed response to Rhode Island Current. “Our community will continue to receive great care and our expectation is that we will return to an ‘A’ grade in the near future.”

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Leapfrog aggregates 30 metrics to assess how well hospitals care for patients as well as prevent bad outcomes, like infections and falls. The grades are given to roughly 3,000 hospitals, not including VA hospitals or children’s hospitals. Hospitals that lack enough data for multiple metrics are also excluded.

Lisa P. Tomasso, senior vice president of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island, said via email that the trade group was pleased with the state’s performance. But she added that the grades, while insightful, are “not comprehensive, as they exclude factors like social determinants of health, community-level health challenges, and systemic issues like Medicaid reimbursement rates.”

But grades still hold value. Robert Hackey, a professor of health sciences at Providence College, said that “hospitals that don’t do well tend to poke holes in whatever rating methodology that’s used.”  

“If you look at the hospitals in Rhode Island, for the most part, we’re performing very well,” Hackey said. “Yeah, we obviously have two low performers. It’s Fatima and Roger Williams. And there’s a common thread there. They’re both owned by Prospect and they’re both for-profit institutions, yeah. And they both struggle.”

A representative for CharterCARE Health Partners, the Rhode Island subsidiary for Prospect Medical Holdings, which owns Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, did not respond to requests for comment. Facing growing debt, Prospect has sought to unload many of the hospitals in its portfolio, including the two safety net hospitals in Rhode Island. A proposal to sell Roger Williams and Fatima to a new, nonprofit owner, received conditional approval from state regulators in June, but the status of financing required to complete the transaction is unclear. 

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Hackey said it’s a bad sign when hospitals ignore questions on Leapfrog’s survey — something both Fatima and Roger Williams Medical Center did when it came to inquiries about nursing and leadership.   

Our Lady of Fatima Hospital’s ‘C’ grade is indicative of ongoing quality issues at Prospect Medical Holdings’ hospitals in Rhode Island, says Providence College Professor Robert Hackey. (Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)

Meanwhile hospitals owned by the state’s largest health care system — Brown University Health, formerly Lifespan Corporation — all performed well. Rhode Island Hospital, the state’s flagship hospital, received a B grade despite demonstrating below-average prevention rates of blood and urinary tract infections and falls causing broken hips, as well as less-than-stellar marks for hospital leadership and communication about medicines with patients. 

Since 2021, Rhode Island Hospital has received C grades more often than not. The B is evidence that things are improving, said Dr. Dean Roye, senior vice president for medical affairs and chief medical officer at the hospital. The Leapfrog grades “help us pinpoint areas” to work on, Roye said. He added that a reorganization of quality and safety departments across Brown Health’s properties was another factor in Rhode Island Hospital’s improved grade. 

But Hackey is eyeing another Brown property, the A-graded Miriam, for a surgery he has scheduled for December. He explained with a laugh that checking the Leapfrog ratings was one of the first things he did when deciding where to have his surgery.  

“The goal of this is to have a more educated healthcare consumer,” he said.

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Above average results

Leapfrog uses the percentage of A grade hospitals in a state to determine a state’s national ranking. Almost 61% of Utah’s hospitals received A grades, giving it the top slot nationwide. The top 10 states all sported at least 40% A grade hospitals.

An A grade indicates hospitals that prioritize safety, said Alex Campione, program analyst for the Leapfrog Group, who noted that about 32% of hospitals nationwide achieved this grade. Rhode Island was over the national average with 44% of its hospitals receiving an A grade.  

“Each year more than 250,000 people will die in hospitals due to preventable errors, injuries, accidents, and infections,” Campione said. “We estimate that, at the very least, 50,000 of those lives could be saved if all hospitals performed like A hospitals.”

Rhode Island placed fourth nationwide in Leapfrog’s spring 2024 scores, also with 44% at an A grade, but it was pushed out of the top five this time around by three states that rose with higher grades: California, North Carolina and Connecticut. Connecticut was the only other New England state to crack the top 10. Vermont fared worst of all, and was ranked 48th nationwide, tying for last place with North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa. There was not a single A grade hospital in any of these states.

Grading the graders

But a bad report card might not be the final word on a hospital’s quality. A 2019 article in New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst graded the graders, and gave Leapfrog a C-, the second lowest of the four systems reviewed. The study noted that Leapfrog had a detailed framework for measurement, with a unique focus on the hospitals’ “culture of safety.” But it also relied on its proprietary survey for a good chunk of its data — a problem, the authors thought, since Leapfrog grades hospitals the same regardless of whether they complete the survey.

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Dr. Karl Bilimoria of the Indiana University School of Medicine, who chairs the school’s surgery department and leads its Surgical Outcomes and Quality Improvement Center, led the 2019 study. He wrote in an email Tuesday to Rhode Island Current that Leapfrog’s efforts still leave something to be desired.

“Leapfrog has many issues with their methodology and their general approach that persist and they have been the least receptive to improvement suggestions and the least adaptive to changes in the science of quality measurement,” Bilimoria wrote. 

Asked about Bilimoria’s idea that Leapfrog is not responsive to suggestions, spokesperson Lula Hailesilassie said by email that the public is regularly invited to submit feedback on proposed changes to its surveys. Comments on the 2025 survey are open through Dec. 13, 2024.    

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

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Rhode Island

More complaints against former RI private school coach accused of exploiting underage girl – The Boston Globe

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More complaints against former RI private school coach accused of exploiting underage girl – The Boston Globe


The girl told the state police and Barrington police that Cassidy, who’d been her coach, became fixated on her since the summer of 2025 and won her trust. She told police that Cassidy had given her lingerie and alcohol and requested explicit photos of her under the guise of training her for a “secret section of the FBI” to help children who are sex trafficked.

The small private Christian school fired Cassidy after his arrest on June 1. State police said they expected to bring more charges and asked for other witnesses to come forward.

Since then, Barrington Police Chief Michael E. Correia said, four more students from Barrington Christian Academy and a young woman who encountered Cassidy at the Pawtucket YMCA have made complaints.

“All of their stories are clearly inappropriate behavior from a teacher-coach,” Correia said on Wednesday. “However, we don’t believe [the allegations] at this time amounts to a criminal offense.”

Correia declined to describe the specific accusations. The new reports have been referred to the State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is leading the investigation. State Police Major Kenneth Moriarty did not respond to questions on Wednesday.

A 19-year-old woman who attended Barrington Christian Academy in the 2020-2021 school year was the first to come forward. She spoke to Barrington police on June 3, shortly after the state police announced Cassidy’s arrest, and described “inappropriate behavior,” Correia said.

Then, a 12-year-old girl and 15-year-old girl, both of whom are student-athletes at the school, spoke with Barrington police on June 8. A mother brought her 12-year-old daughter, who is also a student, to speak with police on June 9.

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A 23-year-old woman contacted the Barrington police on June 17 about Cassidy. She said she encountered him at the Pawtucket YMCA when she was about 14 years old, and she also complained about “inappropriate behavior,” Correia said.

Kate Messier, the vice president of development at the Pawtucket YMCA, confirmed on Wednesday that Cassidy was employed there until 2018. She did not comment on his role at the YMCA or answer questions about whether the organization had received any complaints about Cassidy at the time.

“Child protection is foundational to how the YMCA of Pawtucket operates, and we maintain extensive safeguards that are reviewed and reinforced on an ongoing basis,” Messier said in the statement. “Those safeguards include thorough staff screening and background checks, mandatory child abuse prevention training, program environments structured to maintain supervision and eliminate unsupervised one-on-one situations, and clear procedures for reporting any concern.”

The 14-year-old girl whose allegations led the state police to arrest Cassidy said that she learned that he had allowed juveniles from unstable homes live in his house in Pawtucket while he was working at the YMCA, according to court documents. The girl also told investigators that Cassidy had housed foreign exchange students associated with Barrington Christian Academy.

Correia said that the private school has been “very cooperative” with the Barrington police. The head of school, Michael Skazinski, did not respond to questions from the Globe on Wednesday.

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Cassidy’s lawyer, Melissa Larsen, declined comment on Wednesday.

The state police have searched Cassidy’s home in Pawtucket, his pickup truck, and his office at the school, and have seized numerous electronic devices, including iPads, tablets, and thumb drives, according to court records. The affidavits accompanying the search warrants detailed the allegations that the 14-year-old girl made against Cassidy.

He had been coaching her in different sports at the school, and their families became close. She told the state police that she grew to trust Cassidy and would spend time with him and his family at their home. Then, she said, he began telling her stories about how he was special — and so was she.

She said Cassidy told her he was working for a “secret section of the FBI.” She said he claimed that he had “special DNA,” so the FBI and state troopers had him assist in raids to save children from being sex trafficked. She said that Cassidy told her that there were “off-worlders” or aliens that posed as humans on earth, and some of those children being sex trafficked were actually aliens.

She said that Cassidy assigned various “challenges” or “missions” to make her comfortable in uncomfortable situations, according to the affidavits.

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“She was also advised to learn to get comfortable with wearing less clothing and ultimately nudity because it would be required later on for ‘missions,’” the affidavits said. “Cassidy claimed that aliens did not believe in the ‘construct of clothes.’”

She said Cassidy emailed her from his personal Gmail account, calling himself “Casper,” the affidavits said. She said he also claimed that two other girls were using his email to talk to her about the “special” training, and she was told to email with a person named “Kevin” on another email address who would talk to her about her feelings, the affidavits said.

She said she was instructed to take explicit photographs of herself and send them to his private email. She came to realize that all of the personas were actually Cassidy.

On May 28, the girl received an email from Cassidy’s personal Gmail account offering her three “flirt options,” all of which involved her taking off her clothes in front of him. She believed she needed to follow through; she told police that Cassidy said “bad things” could happen to her if she failed.

That night, her parents discovered what was going on, and they contacted the Barrington police, who called in the state police.

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The State Police are continuing to investigate and ask anyone with information about Cassidy or potential victims to contact the task force at 401-921-1170, or the Barrington Police Department at 401-437-3935.


Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com. Follow her @AmandaMilkovits.





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Rhode Island

‘Condom Hut’ Movie Adds Another Big Name

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‘Condom Hut’ Movie Adds Another Big Name


Another famous face is joining the cast of “Rubber Hut” filming throughout Rhode Island.

As we previously reported, Grace Van Patten is starring in the feature film debut for director Hannah Gray Organschi about the infamous “condom hut” business from the early 90s.

Dia Dipasupil, Getty Images
Dia Dipasupil, Getty Images

The short-lived Fotomat kiosk turned drive-thru condom store garnered local notoriety as well as national attention in 1992 and is now the subject of a movie with several A-list stars attached.

READ MORE: Michael Imperioli, Emmy Rossum Join RI ‘Condom Hut’ Film

Scenes were filmed for several days at a custom-made “condom hut” on West Shore Road in Warwick. On Thursday, June 11, Beach Avenue was closed down to shoot a parade scene. Now, film crews have moved to Meshanticut Valley Parkway in Cranston for scenes along a residential street.

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Who Was Behind the Original Condom Hut?

The home is believed to represent the residence of Emanuella DelVecchio, the former flight attendant who had the brilliant idea to open a condom kiosk in response to the AIDS epidemic.

Nancy Hall/Townsquare Media
Nancy Hall/Townsquare Media
Nancy Hall/Townsquare Media

Instead of support, however, DelVecchio received the condemnation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence and was plagued with vandalism before shuttering her business within a year.

READ MORE: New Bedford’s Gone But Not Forgotten Closed-Down Bars

Who Has Joined the ‘Condom Hut’ Movie Cast So Far

Photos of parade scenes for the film show Michael Imperioli portraying a priest in the movie and now Deadline has reported that stage actor, Will Harrison, is attached to the project as DelVecchio’s husband. Other actors’ specific roles remain unknown.

Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images
Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images
Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images

Filming is expected to continue in Rhode Island until the end of June with a theatrical release likely in 2027.

See the Stars Who Own Homes in Rhode Island

There are plenty of celebrities who once called Rhode Island home, but how many still do? Here’s the list of stars who own homes across the Ocean State.

Gallery Credit: Nancy Hall

20 Stars Who Hail From Rhode Island

Rhode Island may be the smallest state in the nation, but it has been home to many celebrities. Though some have moved here, filmed here or attended school here, only a handful were actually born here. These are those celebrities.

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Gallery Credit: Nancy Hall

All The Famous Faces That Have Been to Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island Home

Here are all the celebrities we know have made an appearance at Holiday House over the years.

Gallery Credit: Nancy Hall





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Two Rhode Island residents charged in $6.5 billion healthcare fraud crackdown

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Two Rhode Island residents charged in .5 billion healthcare fraud crackdown


Two Rhode Island residents were charged after the Justice Department announced a $6.5 billion healthcare fraud crackdown.

The department said 455 defendants were charged, including 90 doctors and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud and opioid abuse schemes.

Mareli Arias Batista, 57, of Providence, was charged with false representation of a social security number, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, false statement in application for a passport, use of a false passport and bank fraud in connection with a scheme to obtain benefits using the identity of another person.

Officials said Batista fraudulently obtained approximately $28,236.42 in Rhode Island Medicaid benefits.

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Balni Pimental Lara, 59, of Providence, was also charged with false representation of a social security number, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, and health care fraud, in connection with a scheme to obtain benefits using the identity of another person.

According to officials, Lara fraudulently obtained approximately $24,018.86 in Rhode Island Medicaid benefits.

Bhamin Chhatrapati, 40, of Stoughton, Mass., was charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud in connection with over $5.1 million fraudulently billed to Medicare, of which over $2.6 million was paid.

Approximately 1,079 medical providers were suspended and billing privileges were revoked for 1,403 providers.



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