Retrofitting surgery centers could expand Rhode Island’s healthcare capacity, argues Cioe

Lenny Cioe, a candidate for Senate District 4, has proposed a new plan to help Rhode Island respond to the rapid spread of Coronavirus throughout the state. Cioe, who is challenging Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio, proposed retrofitting surgery centers with the capacity to treat non-COVID emergency patients in order to free up space in traditional emergency rooms for patients who have contracted coronavirus.

Cioe, a registered nurse, says that this proposal would substantially expand the state’s capacity to treat the spread of the disease which is threatening to overwhelm our state’s emergency rooms.

“Every day, I see healthcare professionals in Rhode Island risk their lives on the front lines of this crisis,” said Cioe. “While my friends and colleagues are doing everything in their power to fight this disease, Rhode Islanders are suffering because of Ruggerio’s tremendous failure of leadership. The General Assembly is not even meeting to discuss how to tackle this crisis, and that means that it can’t implement important proposals like this that would seriously help to protect the people of Rhode Island.”

[FROM A PRESS RELEASE]

last night, @LennyforRI reached out to me with an interesting idea that he believes will "save lives" – engage the state's private surgical facilities to serve as hospitals/procedural centers for non-COVID patients. Will share the interview at https://t.co/UmSjltJgTv this AM

— Bill Bartholomew (@BillBartholomew) April 6, 2020