Council will contact Prospect Medical on Fatima sale as residents press for drainage fixes

At its Jan. 14 meeting the North Providence Town Council voted to send a letter to Prospect Medical and to the board overseeing the sale of Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, and continued formal consideration of the hospital sale to the February meeting.

Councilman Martone said talks between town officials and state actors continue and noted complications after the prospective buyer filed for bankruptcy in Texas; he moved to continue the matter to February, and the council approved the continuation. Councilman DiLorenzo then asked the council to address chronic water and drainage issues that residents tie to runoff from the hospital property.

“...the whole area back there, which I think is probably 4 and a half acres, does not drain well so the system needs to be improved,” Bernie (town staff) said while showing a map and describing the campus parking, aging utilities and a municipal 8-inch pipe that outlets near Superior View. Bernie said he had discussed filtration-pond options with engineer Dave D’Amico of DTech to reduce nonpoint pollution from parking-lot runoff and to add on-site volume storage.

Residents described repeated flooding. “I live on 32 Brookside Avenue... I had three floods: 2005, 2010, and the recent one in 2023,” resident Dana Purdick said. A contractor who identified himself only as Hector described repeated basement flooding in the area and raised concerns about improper sump-pump hookups that can overload the municipal system.

Councilman DiLorenzo moved that the council send a letter to Prospect Medical and to “the board that oversees the sale” to notify them of drainage and flood problems; the motion was seconded by Councilman Famagetti and carried. Council members also directed staff to include the drainage matter on the next public-safety committee agenda and to have engineer Dave D’Amico and other town staff examine possible remediation measures; no appropriation vote for construction or remediation was taken at the Jan. 14 meeting.

Why it matters: residents in neighborhoods adjacent to the hospital said they have experienced repeated flooding that they and town staff believe is connected to impervious surface and aging drainage infrastructure on and near the hospital campus. The sale of the hospital could change ownership responsibilities for remediation, and the council said it wants the prospective owner and oversight board to be aware of the town’s concerns before the sale proceeds.

Ending: The council continued the sale discussion to February and will send the letter to Prospect Medical and the overseeing board; staff will report back after the public-safety committee meets and after DTech provides study recommendations.