RI Attorney General Peter Neronha issued the following statement in response to Brown Health’s announcement that it will keep open Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center at Newport Hospital. “I want to thank Brown Health for prioritizing the health care needs of Newport County by deciding to keep Newport Hospital’s birthing center open, and for engaging with my Office regarding this issue. My Office is keenly aware of the financial pressures experienced by Brown Health and other hospitals and providers; pressures that arise from our failure to fix the financial fundamentals of our broken health care system. Providers across Rhode Island have long sounded the alarm about low Medicaid reimbursement rates and other financial stressors, and up until very recently, those calls for change went unanswered. Until we truly prioritize investment in our health care system, we can and should expect more difficult decisions about closures, decisions which may not turn out as favorably as this one." – AG Neronha