RI Medicaid Secretary Charest to Lead CharterCARE Hospitals
Rhode Island Health and Human Services Secretary Richard Charest is resigning from state government to become CEO of CharterCARE Health of Rhode Island, the local subsidiary of The Centurion Foundation that owns Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital. He replaces retiring CEO Jeffrey Liebman effective Nov. 1, with his state resignation effective Oct. 31. The move follows a contentious year in which Charest's administration secretly courted an alternative buyer for the hospitals before Centurion's purchase closed in March, straining relations between state officials and the new owners. Charest now takes over amid ongoing labor contract disputes with 1,200 unionized hospital workers, a looming strike threat, and an attorney general rejection of the hospitals' required turnaround plan.