PROVIDENCE – Lifespan Corp. chairman Alfred J. Verrecchia convened a meeting of the boards of trustees of Rhode Island and The Miriam hospitals last night to discuss combining the two health care facilities into “a single entity with two campuses,” the nonprofit hospital group said today.

In a statement, Lifespan president and CEO George A. Vecchione said the current recession has underscored longstanding concerns about the affordability of health care. “It is clear to me that we have reached a time in the evolution of our system when our focus on high quality care demands that we change,” he said.

Vecchione did not outline the details of what the proposed consolidation would look like, but said the two hospitals would maintain a degree of independence and that significant cutbacks were unlikely.

“We do not anticipate that this process will result in the elimination of services, significant loss of jobs or the loss of either hospital’s unique identity,” he said.“ Over time we expect investments will be targeted in such a way that avoid duplication of services. Each hospital will continue to maintain a separate endowment and foundation board.”

Vecchione said Lifespan is “at the beginning phase of this process” and that he proposed a process to begin addressing important issues relating to the consolidation over the next few months at the meeting last night.

Rhode Island and Miriam hospitals are already part of the same heath care group, but maintain separate administrations. Lifespan also owns Bradley and Newport hospitals, but Vecchione said these would not be included in the consolidation.

“Rhode Island and The Miriam hospitals offer many similar services within four miles of one another,” he said. “Bradley is a specialty hospital and Newport Hospital serves a very specific geographic area. As such, there are no plans to add either of these hospitals into the combined Rhode Island and The Miriam hospital.”

Lifespan is a nonprofit health care system that includes The Miriam, Bradley, Newport and Rhode Island/Hasbro Children’s hospitals. Additional information is available at Lifespan.org.