Report: Power Resigns From Agency That Runs RI State Hospital

BURRILLVILLE — Kathryn Power, the embattled director of the R.I. Department of Behavioral Healthcare Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, has resigned amid intense controversy over the future of the Eleanor Slater Hospital.

Power submitted a letter of resignation where she cited a recently diagnosed health issue in her family, WPRI Target 12 is reporting. She's held the job a little more than a year and was an appointee of former governor Gina Raimondo. Her last day will be April 9.

Power wrote said that she believes she moved the hospital in the right direction. A spokesman for Governor Dan McKee thanked Power for her service and wished her the best. He said the BHDDH agency "has a critical mission and it will be a priority for the McKee administration to find a candidate to live up to its values providing high-quality care and services for some of Rhode island's most vulnerable residents."

Power has come under intense scrutiny in recent months as state legislators probe allegations that she and others have been implementing a "shadow closure" of the Zambarano campus. Power has denied that such a move is afoot. She has argued that the hospital previously had no robust discharge plan in place, and asserted that many patients should be in less-restrictive, community-based settings instead.

Things came to a head earlier this year when the hospital's former medical director issued an open letter claiming that doctors at the facility were being improperly pressured to discharge patients. Among other problems, Eleanor Slater had fallen out of compliance with federal guidelines and stopped billing for Medicaid reimbursements. Critics have pointed fingers at Power charging a lack of transparency and conflicting information coming from the BHDDH.

Power caught more criticism last week when she left a lengthy public hearing early. The virtual hearing drew testimony from patient advocates, family members and and nurses who said the hospital is a good place and must remain open. The Zambarano facility in Burrillville provides long-term care for people with conditions such as paralysis and severe head injuries. The facility in Cranston houses forensic psychiatric patients referred by the courts.

McKee inherited a plan from Raimondo to downsize and consolidate the state hospital. He plans a new $650,000 facility in Burrillville and a plan that could eliminate around 100 jobs.

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