When Laila Muhanna ’28 first moved to Rhode Island in 2012, her parents had a few tasks on the agenda. Among them: finding in-state pediatricians and primary care doctors for their family.
But what they thought would be a straightforward process turned into spending years on a waitlist — an experience Muhanna found incredibly “frustrating,” she told The Herald.
Muhanna’s family is not alone. A shrinking primary care workforce in Rhode Island has created long waitlists for many prospective patients in need of appointments, while others are forced to travel across state lines. In 2019, the state lost a net 4% percent of its primary care physician population, according to a December 2023 report from the R.I. Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner. The report also estimated that Rhode Island will have a deficit of almost 100 primary care providers by 2030.
But a new agreement between Brown University Health and the office of R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha P’19 P’22 may improve the state’s healthcare landscape
According to a BUH statement, the deal requires Brown Health Medical Group to expand its primary care services to 40,000 new patients by the end of 2029. The health care system estimated that it will need to hire about 27 new primary care providers to meet these goals.
The 40,000-patient requirement may be waived if BHMG not only reaches 30,000 new patients over the next three years, but also manages to secure a nearby appointment for every one of these new patients within 14 days of their request, in the six months before December 2028.
Right now, “your odds are probably better winning the Powerball than finding a new patient appointment anywhere in this state within 14 days,” Neronha said at a Sept. 30 press conference. He called the deal a “major step” toward alleviating the state’s primary care crisis.
It would be “amazing” if new patients only had to wait two weeks for an appointment, she wrote, but she also shared concerns that a sudden influx of patients might prevent physicians from spending an adequate amount of time with each person.
This commitment comes as a part of a merger between BHMG and Brown Physicians Inc. — a practice group founded by faculty affiliates of the Warren Alpert Medical School. The merger was finalized and effective on Oct. 1, according to a Brown Health news release.
“This transition is designed to optimize care delivery, enhance data sharing and ensure that all providers have access to a unified patient record, leading to more integrated and efficient care,” said BPI President Angela Caliendo, a professor of medicine at Warren Alpert and BUH executive vice chair of medicine, in the release.
“Patients will benefit from reduced paperwork, timely access to test results and improved coordination among specialties, all accessible via a single patient portal,” she added.
Neronha launched an assessment of the proposed merger in the fall of 2024, reviewing its compliance with antitrust regulations. The probe has since been dropped as a result of the agreement.
Elena Nicolella, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Health Center Association, wrote that the organization is researching how to ensure that the agreement does not “unintentionally disrupt the already stressed primary care environment here in Rhode Island” in an email to The Herald.
RIHCA represents several local community health centers, with a focus on primary care. Nicolella explained that the merger comes as independent primary care facilities are already challenged by “an overall limited pool of providers, higher salaries in neighboring states and Rhode Island’s housing prices and availability.”
A study by Brown researchers found that close to half of all primary care physicians are affiliated with hospitals. Yashaswini Singh, an assistant professor of health services, policy and practice and an author on the study, noted that office visits to hospitals-based primary care physicians were 10.7% more expensive than independent practices, on average.
As a result, patients and insurers end up footing the cost, Singh wrote in an email to The Herald. It is unclear whether the newly hired physicians will be hospital-based.
Neronha believes that state officials “should have seen (the shortage) coming.” He highlighted the shutdown of physician group Anchor Medical Associates this summer, which left 25,000 R.I. patients “effectively in the wind.”
“Our health care system is in crisis, and Rhode Islanders know it,” Neronha said in a statement sent to The Herald.
“These commitments will take time to scale up, as they require vigorous recruitment and retention efforts by Brown Health,” Neronha continued. “But they must meet our targets, and I am confident that today’s agreement means real progress in solving our primary care provider crisis.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the Rhode Island Health Center Association represents over 60 skilled nursing facilities across the state. RIHCA represents various community health centers in the state, focusing on primary care. The Herald regrets the error.
