Union workers rallied outside the struggling Kent Hospital in Warwick, R.I., pressing state officials for pandemic relief funding to save it, ABC 6 reported June 1.
"The hospital doesn't have the finances to invest in new technology and invest in the workforce then it's not going to be able to succeed," Jack Callaci, a Kent Hospital union representative, told the station. "So, we need them to succeed, and they need us to succeed."
Mr. Callaci told the station that Providence, R.I.-based Care New England, which owns the hospital, has requested $48 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, which state officials administer.
Care New England had planned to merge with Providence-based Lifespan, but the two organizations withdrew their plans after they were opposed by the state's attorney general and the Federal Trade Commission.
After the Lifespan deal was scrapped, Care New England's CEO James Fanale, MD, said the hospital could have new merger plans soon, WPRI reported May 25.
"We're perfect prey for any for-profit to come along and just take over," union President Trich Criner told the station. "That would be the worst thing for Kent Hospital. That would be the worst thing for these workers, and it would be the worst thing for this community."