Dear Members of the Brown Community,

We are writing today to share that the Lifespan Board of Directors and the Corporation of Brown University have voted in separate meetings this month on the parameters of a new nonbinding term sheet that authorizes both institutions to strengthen the existing affiliation and licensing agreements between the health system and Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School. Details will be worked out over the next several months.

While these efforts will result in even stronger connections than we have in place today, Lifespan and Brown will remain two separate and distinct nonprofit organizations. As you know, Lifespan has a long-standing affiliation agreement with the medical school, as three of the Lifespan hospitals are academic teaching hospitals — Rhode Island, The Miriam and Bradley hospitals. Many physicians in these hospitals are faculty members of the Warren Alpert Medical School and are employed by Lifespan.

The existing affiliation agreement between Brown and the health system expires at the end of this calendar year, on December 31, so this is a natural time for conversations about extending our agreement. Both Brown and Lifespan collectively aspire to ensure robust health care services and biomedical research in Rhode Island and beyond. Both institutions want to see Rhode Island thrive through critical efforts such as creating the Rhode Island Life Science Hub, working with government, civic and business leaders and other organizations to create more well-paying jobs, and significantly improving access to both primary and specialty care. Brown and Lifespan also are committed to providing world-class environments for patient care and medical education that will benefit our faculty and students.

The proposed enhanced affiliation between the University and Lifespan will not impact Brown’s valued affiliations with Care New England, the VA Providence Healthcare System, HopeHealth and Brown Physicians Inc. These affiliations remain vital to the medical school’s teaching, clinical care, community engagement and research missions.

Brown, Lifespan and Care New England also will continue their efforts toward aligned research collaboration, known as BIRCH, that was established last year. The three organizations are working to streamline research administration through the Brown Innovation and Research Collaborative for Health.

The discussions between Brown and Lifespan reflect an ongoing shared commitment to aligning the strengths of both institutions, bolstering the connections between and across delivery of care, medical training and biomedical research.

We look forward to sharing the outcomes of the continuing discussions in the coming months.

Sincerely,
Christina H. Paxson
President

Mukesh K. Jain, MD
Senior Vice President for Health Affairs
Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences