Landmark Medical Center, a 214-bed hospital in Woonsocket, R.I., can waive up to $1.7 million in city taxes after it converts from for-profit back to a nonprofit status next year, reports The Valley Breeze.
Rhode Island lawmakers had considered a bill requiring the medical center to continue paying at least a majority of its tax obligation after its conversion in July 2019, but that legislation is dead for now since House action wasn't taken before the 2018 session ended.
State Democratic Representative Michael Morin said the bill, which was intended to apply to any hospital going through the same conversion as LMC, died due to concerns from lawmakers related to the legislation's constitutionality under equal protection laws and potential legal challenges from LMC, according to the report. He noted LMC is the only example he knows of in recent years that has involved a conversion from a nonprofit to a for-profit and then back to nonprofit status.
LMC's conversion back to nonprofit status will come about five years after for-profit Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Services completed its deal to buy the medical center.
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