New alliance unites R.I. home care, hospice agencies

CEO Diana Franchitto, left, and Executive Vice President Donna Gouveia, of the newly created Home Care & Hospice of New England. / COURTESY HOME CARE & HOSPICE OF NEW ENGLAND
CEO Diana Franchitto, left, and Executive Vice President Donna Gouveia, of the newly created Home Care & Hospice of New England. / COURTESY HOME CARE & HOSPICE OF NEW ENGLAND

PROVIDENCE – State officials approved a new alliance between two Rhode Island health care nonprofits this week.

The affiliation of Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island and Visiting Nurse Home Care received approval from the state department of health and the R.I. Attorney General’s office.

They will operate under a newly created parent company, Home Care & Hospice of New England.

The new affiliation “will allow our organizations to create a network that will work together, coordinating our services so that we can provide the best possible care for the people we serve every day,” said Diana Franchitto, president and CEO of Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island.

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“By creating a network of care, both organizations will help keep patients out of the hospital so they can be cared for in their homes, where they prefer to be,” said Donna M. Gouveia, president & CEO of Visiting Nurse Home Care – formerly known as the Visiting Nurse Service of Greater Rhode Island.

Franchitto will serve as CEO of the new organization; Gouveia will serve as executive vice president. A new board of directors, consisting of representatives from both organizations, has also been named.

Providence-based Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island has 330 employees and about 300 volunteers; Lincoln-based Visiting Nurse Home Care has 150 employees. There will be no layoffs as a result of the alliance, the CEOs of both organizations told Providence Business News.

The move was a response to the ongoing structural changes in the health care delivery system and the recognition of a need to collaborate to create “a health care continuum” that benefits both outcomes and health care costs, according to Franchitto and Gouveia.

“The new structure provides improved care coordination, integration and accountability, assisting patients with acute, to chronic, to end-of-life care, keeping the patient at the center while providing excellent quality services to those patients,” Gouveia said.

The change also reflects the Rhode Island’s demographics, as its older population grows, Franchitto said.

“We all know that Rhode Island’s older population is growing. From a hospice perspective, it’s a natural alignment, as people age, they will need hospice services,” she said. Gouveia said they are adding more Spanish-speaking providers to meet the growing Hispanic resident population.

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