Rhode Island’s last independent hospital will remain independent for now.
South County Hospital and Connecticut-based Yale New Haven Health System announced Tuesday they have broken off discussions of a possible partnership.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to identify a mutually acceptable plan that would meet the needs of our respective communities,’’ the companies said in a joint statement. “We believe this is the right course at this point in time and we each remain committed to delivering excellent care for the communities we serve.”
Yale New Haven, a nonprofit affiliated with the Ivy League medical school, made its first foray into Rhode Island in 2016 with the acquisition of Westerly Hospital’s parent company.
The ending of the partnership talks with Yale New Haven marks the nonprofit community hospital’s second courtship in four years that has ended without a partnership.
In 2014, South County Hospital was in exclusive negotiations to affiliate with Massachusetts-based Southcoast Health System, but those ended without any agreement. South County Hospital administrators said at the time that a small independent hospital could not survive in the face of increasing hospital consolidations.
Massachusetts-based Partners Health Care is currently in exclusive negotiations to buy Care New England, Rhode Island’s second-largest hospital group.
Unlike some hospitals seeking partnerships, South County Hospital has managed to remain in-the-black.
South County Hospital’s parent, South County Health, reported operating revenues for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2017 of just under $180 million, compared with $166.3 million in the prior fiscal year.
updated 12:30 p.m.