Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee has proposed a budget amendment that would allocate $4.3 million in state funds to enhance behavioral health services at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence.
The funding would come alongside asking CMS for a new Medicaid reimbursement rate structure that would support a 21-bed long-term care behavioral health inpatient unit at the hospital, serving higher-acuity patients with complex needs. If approved, the funding would be leveraged with federal matching funds totaling approximately $5.7 million.
The expanded behavioral unit would be able to accept patients from community hospitals who require longer-term hospitalization, enhancing the state’s continuum of care and freeing up beds at other hospitals for short-term acute care.
