November 16, 2024 

To: South County Health Board of Trustees 

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Donna Sassi and my roots with South County Hospital run deep dating back to 1967. My first experience at SCH was as a student nurse at the University of Rhode Island during my first clinical course, “Introduction to Nursing". Following that, I continued over the course of many years as a Nurse’s Aide during my URI experience, and eventually as an RN for 20 years in the Emergency Department from 1980-2000. I have also been an inpatient at SCH for numerous surgical procedures.  

During my employment at SCH, I became very involved in community outreach and education always representing our hospital in a positive way. I was RI State Director for a national volunteer ED Nurses organization known as E.N.C.A.R.E. I recruited dozens of nurses from every hospital in RI to go out into the community to address the dangers of Drinking and Driving and other alcohol related emergencies. Over the course of 10 years, we addressed thousands of young people every year.  

I also realized the need for additional Advanced Life Support accessibility from the fire departments in Narragansett and North Kingstown and raised awareness for the need through the Town Councils and eventually through increased budgeting for the purpose of purchasing the vehicles, hiring, and training the additional ACLS providers.  

At SCH, during my employment, I was named Nurse of the Year by my peers; named Nurse of the Year from the RI Department of EMS, and Community Hero from the Town of North Kingstown. I was also an active volunteer at SCH for the yearly fund-raising galas. 

So why do I describe my history at SCH to you? I hope you will not see me as some disgruntled employee or as a politician looking to win an election. The reason for this letter is a purely personal one, as I genuinely care about our community hospital which services residents from Warwick to Westerly and sometimes beyond. I was part of a highly respected team of professionals including physicians, nurses, techs, ancillary staff, and pre-hospital care providers. Our team was respected statewide and we continually strived for excellence and innovation in the care of the members of our communities. We never had to think twice about recommending SCH to family, friends, or strangers. We were a Family of Healthcare Providers.  

The Mission Statement for SCH is: To be the most trusted health partner. 

The Vision: To be a model health system that delivers high quality care, service, and innovation. Our values are Integrity. Caring, Respect, Excellence, Partnership, and Stewardship. 

At the conclusion of my commitment to SCH in the late 1990s, a new administration was hired with a new executive leadership team. That change came with a culture of distrust, negativity, lack of transparency, and a lack of respect for the many staff members who had dedicated years to SCH. This led to a toxic and hostile environment. I am very aware of what a toxic workplace looks like and how it affects the morale of the hospital employees. The problems became so insidious and overwhelming that eventually the physicians and Board of Trustees took a No Confidence vote in the CEO and he was removed from his position. 

Now, 24 years later, history is repeating, with new actors. In 2019, Aaron Robinson was hired as SCH CEO. In a South County Health publication, Lou Giancola, the outgoing CEO stated, after meeting with Mr. Robinson, that he " was impressed by his understanding and commitment to the role of community hospitals, his commitment to sustaining our collaborative culture and his forward thinking perspective on healthcare. He understands the importance of building the kind of relationships with providers and staff that are necessary to sustain the organization." In an article dated October 18, 2019, written by Betty Cotter documenting the past history and planned course for SCH for the next hundred years, Aaron Robinson was quoted as stating, " I would say that one thing always encourages me about South County is the culture... having such a foundation of collaboration, collegiality, teamwork, partnership. Folks work well together, and they have pride in what they do, and I think they take pride in rising to challenges put in front of them." Over the course of his tenure, the hospital has experienced failed leadership resulting in the loss of many Primary Care Physicians, Oncology Physicians and Providers, Cardiology Physicians, and reductions or significant changes in services providing Home Blood Drawing, Sleep Studies, Lactation Counseling, Cardiac Rehab, Anticoagulation Clinic Services, and Diabetic Outpatient Education.  

Who came up with the brainstorm that a financial dilemma, with a $6 million dollar deficit, would improve with the elimination of so many providers and sources of revenue? The community deserves better! Access to quality care is being decimated due to the exodus of providers. Obviously, revenue from referrals for procedures, labs, and diagnostic testing that they order has also left the hospital. 

There have been many explanations for these many losses for the community including retirements, inability to replace physicians due to recruitment and retention issues, inadequate reimbursement issues, lack of a consensus of partnering with outside and out of state companies, and the list goes on. However, all of the responses to the problems fail to address the primary problem... that being the management style of CEO Aaron Robinson. He has fostered division rather than collaboration, often seen as abrupt, callous, and confrontational. His attitudes towards highly educated and dedicated professionals have demonstrated disinterest in the well-being of practitioners, former trustees, and donors. 

A “public forum” was recently held at the Towers in Narragansett for the purpose of providing information to the community and to allow for the community to ask questions regarding the much publicized problems at SCH. Instead of securing a large venue, for example a school auditorium, to accommodate all who might wish to attend, a small limited capacity venue was rented. I watched the live feed for 2 ½ hours. Many friends and former colleagues attempted to watch the next day and found that it was made private and then unavailable. Why would that happen? It seems to align with the mentality of lack of transparency and accountability. 

The subject of low or inadequate reimbursement, which seems to be the consistent problematic theme for Executive Management is not a new phenomenon. It has plagued Rhode Island for decades, and yet, our dedicated physicians had not left SCH for more money. And now, they have, for the most part, moved their practices to other hospitals in this state. It seems common sense that it is much easier to RETAIN physicians rather than to try to recruit physicians into an environment of low reimbursement with a hostile environment. However, that ship has sailed! Leadership needs to be replaced in order for patients and employees to feel confident in SCH moving forward.  

I am confident, as a former dedicated nurse at SCH, that the remaining staff will provide excellent care to their patients in spite of the toxic workplace. I am aware that they have been provided with public relation type scripts to answer any questions from patients regarding the issues of concern in the community. The answers are provided by an executive group who have historically not been transparent and have been contentious and misleading. This is not a sustainable environment. 

It is time to step up! Our community deserves better! I implore you to do the right thing. A “NO CONFIDENCE” VOTE must take place and the Chairman of the Board and the CEO must be replaced to return SCH to the gem of a healthcare organization it once was. All other challenges can be confronted in an atmosphere of respect and honesty. 

Sincerely

Donna L. Sassi