(Originally published as a Letter to the Editor - Westerly Sun) 

To the residents of our community, and to the patients, employees, and medical staff of South County Hospital,

I recently attended the “Save South County Hospital” Town Hall Meeting and I left very confused. I kept hearing the speakers say “You’ve heard from the physicians,” but the physicians who addressed the meeting are NOT current South County Hospital employees. 

It is clear that this newly formed committee has issues with the CEO and Board of Trustees at South County Hospital. It is their right to have their voice heard and they believe they have legitimate grievances. Their message to the public, however, is very CONFUSING. They are misleading the public about the current quality of care being delivered by the dedicated non-clinical staff, pharmacists, lab and radiology technicians, patient care technicians, nurses, and providers (doctors, PAs, and NPs) of South County Hospital. Every area of the hospital - Primary Care, ER and walk-in centers, in-patient services, Urology, General Surgery, and all other surgical services, Cancer/Infusion Center, Center for Women’s Health, Labor and Delivery, and Newborn Care Unit, Wound Care, Cardiac Rehab, Diagnostic Imaging and Interventional Radiology, and Lab services are all OPEN for business and providing THE HIGHEST QUALITY CARE in Rhode Island.

I believe this committee was formed in response to the resignation of some of the providers from the South County Hospital Cancer/Infusion Center. Clearly, these providers and the administration had significant differences that could not be worked out. At the time, those patients were justified in being upset and nervous. However, the administration has taken the necessary steps to replace the providers who left with new, experienced, well-qualified providers and has kept the Cancer/Infusion Center open. The Cancer/Infusion Center has not skipped a day and continues to provide high-quality, compassionate care to its patients. This newly formed committee would like you to believe that care in the Cancer/Infusion Center has been compromised, but it has not and the Cancer/Infusion Center is NOT closing or discontinuing services (unlike the Yale New Haven Health Smilow Cancer Center at Westerly Hospital which will no longer be providing chemotherapies because Yale has decided to take advantage of better reimbursement rates in Connecticut and will be encouraging Rhode Island patients to travel to Waterford, CT).

I love South County Hospital. I have been on the medical staff for 19 years and I have also been a patient at South County Hospital - having had my hip replaced in 2022 and my most recent colonoscopy in 2023 (not a topic people like to talk about, but a critical service for cancer screening that South County Hospital provides to the community). I want the community to know that OUR community hospital is still here - EVERY DAY - providing the quality of care that is unquestionably the best in Rhode Island.

Roger Fazio, MD, FAAP
Wakefield Pediatrics, LLC
Chief of Pediatrics, Director of Newborn Nursery, South County Hospital