A Rhode Island lawmaker is increasing efforts to retrieve records on the financial status of Eleanor Slater Hospital, an embattled state-run psychiatric hospital in Cranston, R.I., according to WPRI.com.
State Senate Oversight Committee Chair Louis DiPalma, who is leading an inquiry into the hospital, is asking the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services to hand over records from a legal firm hired to look at Eleanor Slater's finances. The firm has been looking into whether the hospital is properly billing Medicaid and advising it on federal law compliance.
The dispute over transparency comes shortly after the hospital's interim CEO was removed after a no-confidence vote by nurses amid an investigation into the facility by the state's attorney general. Additionally, the chief of operations and financial management at Eleanor Slater avoided losing his job for months despite two layoff attempts.
An attorney for EOHHS' secretary told WPRI.com that the records are protected under attorney-client privileges.
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