Rhode Island House approves $18 million backstop for Roger Williams and Fatima hospitals

The Rhode Island House of Representatives on Feb. 10, 2026 approved an amended act (7408SubA) authorizing a transfer of $18 million from the state’s supplemental rainy day fund to establish a debt service reserve to assist the sale of Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital. The measure passed by recorded vote, 67-0.

The bill, introduced by Representative Slater, directs the $18,000,000 transfer to a debt service reserve fund that the state would retain interest on and that could be accessed only if the hospitals were unable to make debt payments and after any hospital-funded debt service reserve is exhausted. The act applies only to the currently approved transaction and becomes effective upon the sale of the hospital bonds, and only if the bond issue closes by May 8, 2026. Funds remaining in the reserve after full payment of the hospital bonds are to return to the supplemental rainy day fund.

Before the final vote the House adopted a technical amendment, LC004723/2, to remove a duplicate effective date. The amendment was moved and passed by recorded vote, 66 in favor, 0 opposed.

Representative Lima, while saying she would support the bill "only because it's necessary to protect Roger Williams and Fatima hospitals," used her floor time to press for greater scrutiny of the prior operators. "The reasons we're putting $18,000,000 of taxpayer money as a backstop for Centurion is . . . the direct result of probable malfeasance and negligence of Prospect in running those hospitals to the ground," Lima said, alleging Prospect breached contractual promises to provide malpractice coverage to Rhode Island doctors. Lima said she had worked with lawyers and the medical society to verify the issue and warned that some doctors were already facing bankruptcy. Lima also told members she had been informed in chamber remarks that the Attorney General had a reserve fund of $50,000,000 and that she believed approximately $35,000,000 remained, and said "we only need 4 and a half million to fix this problem" — a claim made on the floor and not tested in the debate record.

Representative Morales said he would vote for the measure but urged the incoming owners to prioritize workers and patient care. "It is my expectation that with the new investments that will be coming in... Centurion will prioritize our frontline healthcare workers, that our frontline healthcare workers be guaranteed a livable wage and that they maintain safe staffing," Morales said, calling health care a human right.

Representative Slater moved passage of the amended bill; multiple members were recorded as seconding the motion. Following the 67-0 recorded vote, the House ordered the bill transmitted to the Senate for consideration.

The act’s legal effect is limited to the specified transaction and contingent on the bond closing date. The floor debate highlighted unresolved concerns raised by members about the prior operator (identified on the floor as Prospect) and about assurances for local doctors and hospital workers; those concerns did not prevent passage and were not resolved by separate binding conditions in the legislative text on the floor record.

Next steps: the clerk was instructed to transmit the approved amended act to the Senate for action.