Rhode Island Hospital is a private, not-for-profit hospital located in the Upper South Providence neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island. It is the largest academic medical center in the region, affiliated with Brown University since 1959. As an acute care teaching hospital, Rhode Island Hospital is the principal provider of specialty care in the region and the only Level I Trauma Center in southeastern New England. The hospital provides a full range of diagnostic and therapeutic services to patients, with particular expertise in cardiology, including the state's only open heart surgery program; diabetes, emergency medical and trauma, neurosciences, oncology/radiation oncology, orthopedics, pediatrics, and surgery. Rhode Island Hospital's pediatrics division, Hasbro's Children's Hospital, is the only pediatric facility in the state. Recording nearly 154,000 visits in the fiscal year of 2016, Rhode Island Hospital's adult and pediatric emergency wings are among the busiest in the United States.
Overview
Rhode Island Hospital is the main teaching hospital of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Rhode Island Hospital ranks 13th among independent hospitals that receive funding from the National Institutes of Health, with research awards of more than $27 million annually. Many of its physicians are recognized as leaders in their respective fields of cancer, cardiology, diabetes, orthopedics, trauma, and minimally invasive surgery. The hospital's pediatrics wing, Hasbro Children's Hospital, has pioneered numerous procedures and is at the forefront of fetal surgery, orthopedics, and pediatric neurosurgery. Together with the Miriam Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital is a founding member of the Lifespan health system. Rhode Island Hospital employs nearly 8,000 full and part-time workers. The hospital's medical staff retains 1,843 physicians, as of 2016. Board certification or eligibility in a specialty or subspecialty is required for all appointed members of the medical staff, as well as those with limited clinical privileges.
History
In 1857, a small group of visionary Rhode Islanders, led by Moses Brown Ives, established a fund for a community hospital. The hospital was not officially founded until 1863, during the American Civil War. with the support of local manufacturer, philanthropist and trustee, Henry J. Steere and others. The first patient, John Sutherland, a local shoemaker, was the first patient admitted to Rhode Island Hospital on October 6, 1858. In 1915, the hospital became the first in the region and third in the nation to have an EKG machine. In 1931, Pembroke College at Brown University partnered with the Rhode Island Hospital Training School to establish the area's first nursing program, training women to both learn and teach in nursing practices.
Treatment
The hospital is the largest of the state's general acute care hospitals, and a tertiary care referral center, providing comprehensive health services for both adults and children. The facility is a 719-bed acute care hospital. The Rhode Island Hospital provides comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic services to inpatients and outpatients, with particular expertise in cardiology, oncology, neurosciences and orthopedics, as well as pediatrics at Hasbro Children's Hospital, its children's hospital which is located on the RIH campus. It is designated as the Level I Trauma Center for southeastern New England.
Hasbro Children's Hospital
Hasbro Children's Hospital is the largest of two children's hospitals' in Rhode Island and provides services to the Rhode Island and the southern New England area. The hospital has 63 beds and provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and supspecialties to patients aged 0–21. The hospital is affiliated with the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Hasbro Children's also features a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center.
History
The hospital was first proposed in 1989 when overcrowding and a lack of modern amenities in the old children's ward became obvious. The old pediatric wing was not designed with parents in mind and as a part of the healthcare team therefore parents were not able to comfortably sleep next to their children. Alan and Stephen Hassenfeld, the owners of Hasbro, helped start a campaign to raise money for the new hospital. The campaign raised over $23 million in the first 3 years with large contributions from the Hassenfeld family. The design of the new hospital was also heavily impacted by the Hassenfelds' down to the color palette, stating that since the hospital would bear their name they wanted a say in the non-medical related design aspects. The input helped create a non threatening friendly atmosphere for patients and families. The hospital ceremoniously opened on Valentines Day 1994 to great fanfare. In 2014, Taylor Swift made a surprise visit to Rhode Island Hospital's pediatric wing, Hasbro's Children's Hospital, spending over five hours with patients and their families.
