Boston gobbling up Providence

The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, in Providence's old Jewelry District. The building used to be a factory.

Adapted from Robert Whitcomb's "Digital Diary,'' in GoLocal24.com

Brown University says it will continue its links with Care New England (CNE), which has medical school  teaching hospitals, even if Boston-based behemoth Partners HealthCare takes it over. Well, of course Brown would have to: It needs nearby teaching hospitals!

The PR on this is that the medical school  would remain Care New England’s primary research and teaching affiliate. Well, maybe. The financial and research clout of Partners (with such world-renowned hospitals as Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s hospitals) is such that that we can expect a lot of  CNE stuff now being done in Rhode Island – much of it administrative but some of it clinical work and research --  will end up being done in Boston. A lot of jobs will disappear around here, but some might be added, too, maybe even from Boston:

Greater Providence will continue to have the advantages of being a cheaper and easier place to work in.

Next stop: Partners might also buy Lifespan, the biggest Rhode Island hospital system, thus becoming a statewide monopoly. An alluring opportunity to jack up prices.