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November 29, 2007

Roger Williams hospital fulfills agreement with U.S.

Roger Williams Medical Center has fulfilled its deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office, U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente said in a statement.

The 2006 agreement between the medical center and the U.S. Attorney's Office required the medical center to meet certain conditions to avoid prosecution for wrongdoing by two executives.

The programs mandated by a deferred prosecution agreement “generated needed ethical reforms,” Corrente said, “Yet allowed the hospital to maintain its vital role in Rhode Island’s health care system and preserved the livelihood of hundreds of dedicated professionals.”

In October of last year, Robert Urciuoli, former president of the Medical Center and Francis P. Driscoll, former vice president, were found guilty in federal court for paying State Senator John Celona to advance the hospital’s legislative agenda.

The Medical Center, itself, was also indicted in 2006; the hospital and the U.S. Attorney’s Office entered into the deferred prosecution agreement, agreeing to a series of ethical changes.

U.S. District Court Judge Ernest C. Torres dismissed the charges against the Medical Center. In turn, the hospital agreed to several new programs, including the creation of a comprehensive ethics program, the transition of 16 seats on the board and new governance.

"Today," the Medical Center's current President and CEO Kenneth Belcher said, "Roger Williams is a better and stronger institution because of the programs and systems we have implemented with the guidance of the U.S. Attorney's office and our monitors. "

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 12:01 PM | Permalink

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