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Care New England and TPC Announce Affiliation

Posted: Monday, March 18, 2013

With the goal of enhancing the delivery of behavioral health care in the region, Care New England (CNE) and The Providence Center (TPC) have entered into an affiliation agreement that will integrate and strengthen behavioral health services across community-based and hospital-based systems of care. The agreement will enable patients to gain access to all levels of care in a seamless and coordinated way.


Signing the official Affiliation Agreement between the two organizations are (seated) Dennis Keefe, President and CEO, Care New England; Dale K. Klatzker, President/CEO, The Providence Center; (back row l to r) Walter Dias, COO, Butler Hospital; Patricia Recupero, JD, MD, President and CEO Butler Hospital; and Owen Heleen, Chief Strategy Officer, The Providence Center.

The strategic affiliation between CNE and TPC came about following a Request for Proposal (RFP) process CNE initiated to identify and engage an innovative, high quality community provider of mental health and addiction services who would enhance and expand the mental health and addiction services currently provided throughout CNE.

“With Butler Hospital, a leader in brain and behavioral health, at the helm of our mental health services, CNE was well positioned to lead the integration of behavioral health care services at all entry points, including the broader health care continuum, and thereby create greater access, improve quality and outcomes, and reduce cost,” said Dennis Keefe, CNE President and CEO. “In The Providence Center we have found a partner that brings robust intermediate and outpatient levels of service, success in operationalizing numerous innovative quality programs, and strong administrative and medical leadership. When combined with the behavioral health expertise, services and leadership of Care New England, we believe this partnership cantransform the future of behavioral health care for our state and region.”

Through a collaborative approach, CNE and TPC seek to:

  • Provide improved opportunities for early identification and care for those individuals in need of behavioral health care;
  • Ensure cost-efficient, effective, innovative, high quality behavioral health care for patients in the communities they serve;
  • Expand the continuum of care and offer a diverse range of behavioral health programs and services in multiple care settings; and
  • Develop, to the extent permissible, a means of participating in new forms of health care delivery and payment that will involve more coordinated and accountable care.

“The Providence Center is pleased to partner with Care New England in creating an integrated behavioral health care system that provides the breadth and quality needed to provide services to all Rhode Islanders while producing improved health outcomes, “ said Dale K. Klatzker, Ph.D., TPC PresidentCEO. “By leveraging the expertise of both CNE and TPC, our partnership will increase thecapacity of both organizations and strengthen the role of behavioral health as an integral part of the changing health care landscape.”

One way in which the affiliation is leveraging its combined expertise is the creation of a Short-Term Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program. To be located on the Butler Hospital campus, the program will be managed by The Providence Center and supported by Butler physicians who are experts in addictions. Another way in which expertise will be shared is in the area of emergency services. CNE and TPC are exploring opportunities for TPC’ s behavioral health care practitioners to provide psychiatric and substance abuse assessment, counseling and follow-up services to patients that present in the emergency departments of CNE affiliate hospitals. CNE and TPC remain independent entities affiliated through a contract relationship under the affiliation agreement.

 

About Care New England

Care New England, located in Rhode Island, was founded in 1996 by Butler Hospital, Kent Hospital and Women & Infants Hospital. Care New England is an integrated health care system that offers a continuum of quality care. The system includes primary care and specialty physicians; two teaching hospitals affiliated with Brown Medical School, Butler and Women & Infants; a community hospital, Kent; a visiting nurse and home care agency, the VNA of Care New England; and Care New England Wellness Center.

 

About The Providence Center

Founded in 1969, The Providence Center (TPC) is committed to creating a behavioral health care system that allows individuals to access the services and supports they need when they need them. Its behavioral health and substance abuse programs are designed around the simple idea that people can and do recover from mental illness and substance abuse – if provided with the right services and supports. Serving more than 12,000 people a year, TPC is the state’s largest community mental health organization and operates with an annual budget of $41 million. The agency employs 610 staff. Its services are provided statewide through eight locations in Providence, Burrillville, Cranston, Pawtucket, and Warwick.