Walaska offers DOH help on licensing issue

PROVIDENCE – Sen. William A. Walaska, D-Warwick, has reached out to R.I. Department of Health officials to offer assistance if legislative action should be needed to rectify a licensing issue that has caused a critical-care company to terminate service in the state.
Walaska asked the department last month to provide him with information concerning Pentec Health, and to seek out solutions to address what he said is “a serious health concern for many Rhode Islanders.”
Pentec, based in Pennsylvania, is an in-home care provider for patients with implanted pain pumps and is authorized to provide in-home nursing services in 28 states. Since 2009, at the request of Boston and Providence doctors, it had been servicing a number of severely ill patients in Rhode Island, employing the services of an individual with a Rhode Island nursing license.
But after spending about $100,000 to obtain state approval of an application for a home nursing care provider’s license, appearing at three hearings and waiting for seven months for a health department decision, the company withdrew its license application and terminated its services in Rhode Island, “blaming frustration with the lengthy and costly process,” Walaska said. •

No posts to display