Authorizes the Superior Court to place a hospital into receivership upon action by the attorney general or department of health when a hospital is mismanaged, financially distressed, acting illegally, or endangering patient health and safety.

Rhode Island Hospital Receivership Bill

This bill would give Rhode Island's Superior Court the power to place a hospital under receivership — a legal arrangement where an outside manager (called a receiver) is appointed to take control of an organization — when serious problems arise. Specifically, a court could step in when a hospital is being mismanaged, is in serious financial trouble, is breaking the law, or is putting patients' health and safety at risk. The process would be triggered by a request from either the state's Attorney General or the Department of Health, meaning two key government watchdogs would have a formal pathway to intervene when a hospital is struggling or acting improperly.

This bill primarily affects hospitals operating in Rhode Island, their leadership and owners, and — most importantly — patients who depend on those hospitals for care. If a hospital fell into one of the problem categories described in the bill, a court-appointed receiver would step in to run it, rather than allowing it to simply close or continue operating in a harmful way. The goal is to protect patients and the broader community from losing access to healthcare or from receiving unsafe care due to a hospital's failures.

This bill is part of Rhode Island's broader Hospital Conversions Act, which governs how hospitals can change ownership or operations. It is currently in the early stages of the legislative process, having been referred to the House Health & Human Services Committee for review and hearings.