PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island attorney general announced Tuesday he will suspend a year-long antitrust probe, clearing the way for Brown University Health to take over one of the state’s largest physician groups, in a deal that will put more than 1,500 doctors under a single corporate owner.
Brown University Health, formerly known as Lifespan Corp., is the state’s largest hospital system. It will merge its physician group, Brown Health Medical Group (formerly known as Coastal Medical), with Brown Physicians Inc., a not-for-profit multi-specialty practice group founded and led by faculty at Brown University.
The agreement comes with some strings: Brown University Health will need to add 40,000 new primary care patients by 2029 and hire 27 new primary care providers. Failure to meet any of the terms could trigger a new investigation, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha said.
Neronha said the conditions would force Brown University Health to alleviate the primary care crisis in Rhode Island.
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Brown Health Medical Group currently cares for more than 153,000 patients, and Brown Physicians currently cares for more than 39,000 patients. The merger could create the state’s largest physician group. Critics of similar mergers warn consolidating the market could choke competition, create a monopoly, and drive up overall costs for patients. Supporters counter that forming bigger medical groups could make them more financially solid, improve access for patients, and stabilize the marketplace.
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The deal comes as Rhode Island’s health care crisis has reached a tipping point. Community health centers are cutting jobs, hospitals are teetering on the brink of closure, patients face months-long waits or are left without primary care doctors. Emergency rooms, meanwhile, are flooded with patients who have nowhere else to turn.
Even primary care offices are closing. Earlier this year, Anchor Medical shut down their offices permanently, leaving 25,000 patients scrambling to find a new pediatric or primary care doctor.
Brown University Health owns the Rhode Island, the Miriam, Hasbro Children’s, Newport, and Bradley hospitals and is known for its work in neurology, cardiology, orthopedics, pediatrics, and cancer treatment and care. The system also owns Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Mass., and Morton Hospital in Taunton, Mass., both of which it acquired from the bankrupt Steward Health Care.
Neronha’s office launched its antitrust investigation into the proposed merger between Brown Health Medical Group and Brown Physicians in the fall of 2024.
New patient appointments will need to be made within 14 days of the merger, said Neronha, and the system will need to invest in electronic medical records technology and support to help address the burden of documentation and other administrative tasks for providers.
Brown University Health will also have to continuously review and monitor its compensation structure to “ensure it is competitive with neighboring states,” according to the agreement.
“You’re not going to be able to recruit these physicians unless your pay is competitive,” said Neronha. “That is the reality… If we want to create a great primary care system. It’s about the economics.”
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Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.