L+M To Westerly: 'Hello And How Do You Do'

L+M Hospital hosted a community cookout Wednesday for the folks in Westerly, to celebrate its takeover of The Westerly Hospital.

William Stanley, vice president of development and community relations, said the hospital out on the barbecue party "for the greater Westerly community to come in and say hello. We had an employee celebration a couple of weeks ago and we decided it was a good idea to have something for the residents to say hello and how do you do."

L+M purchased Westerly for $69 million after Westerly went into receivership, in a deal that was finalized on June 1. Westerly Hospital was an independent hospital for 91 years.

Westerly Town Manager Steve Hartford, who chaired a group called the Westerly Hospital Area Residents Committee throughout the hospital's receivership, was at the Wednesday cookout. The committee was actively involved in making sure that Westerly Hospital was taken over by a company that would hold the community's interests high, Hartford said, and he is pleased by the final result.

"L+M is the best choice for the community," he said. "They were the most fiscally able to handle the deal, and they gave us a sense of assurance that they would revitalize the hospital. They made the biggest commitment to maintain the employees and to make an investment in the infrastructure."

It was important to the health of the community to keep an acute care facility in town, Hartford said.

"We don't want to even imagine our community without that type of service," he said. "We would be a completely different community. On top of that, they are the largest provate employer in town, with 700 direct employees and probably a thousand total when you add in the periphery. And these are good jobs. These are people who live here, who have mortgages here, who do business here.

"I am very happy," he continued. "This is a new chapter for Westerly Hospital and I am hopeful that with L+M's very experienced management that Westerly will continue as an acute care hospital and be competitive."