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News Release
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Rhode Island

November 29, 2007

 

U.S. Attorney, Roger Williams Medical Center
agree to terminate Deferred Prosecution Agreement

           
            The U.S. Attorney’s Office and Roger Williams Medical Center have agreed to terminate a Deferred Prosecution Agreement entered into in January 2006.  The agreement called upon Roger Williams to fulfill certain conditions in lieu of prosecution for alleged wrongdoings by two hospital executives.  In a November 19 letter to the Medical Center, U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente noted that Roger Williams has fulfilled those conditions.
            “The Deferred Prosecution Agreement has accomplished the objectives that we set,” U.S. Attorney Corrente said.  “It generated needed ethical reforms, yet allowed the hospital to maintain its vital role in Rhode Island’s health care system, and preserved the livelihood of hundreds of very dedicated professionals.”
            In the letter addressed to Roger Williams President and CEO Kenneth H. Belcher, U.S. Attorney Corrente wrote, “As reflected in the Monitors’ reports..., you and your staff have succeeded admirably in rebuilding the culture of the institution.”  Belcher subsequently cosigned the letter to signal mutual consent to terminate the agreement on December 31.
            “Last year, we pledged to work hard to regain the public trust and this is an important step in that process,” said Belcher. “Today, 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.”
            New programs and systems at Roger Williams include:

           

Last year a federal jury found Robert A. Urciuoli, the former president of Roger Williams, and Francis P. Driscoll, a former vice president, guilty of corruptly employing State Senator John Celona to advance the Medical Center’s legislative agenda. Urciuoli and Driscoll are free on bail pending appeal of their convictions.
            In an indictment returned in January 2006, the Medical Center was also charged.  However, later that month, the hospital and the U.S. Attorney’s Office entered into the Deferred Prosecution Agreement.  In it, the Medical Center agreed that the government had sufficient proof to convict Urciuoli and Driscoll, and that they had acted within their “apparent authority” as executives of the institution.  The Medical Center also agreed to undertake a series of ethical reforms. 
            On May 1 2006, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Ernest C. Torres dismissed the charges against the Medical Center.
            The Deferred Prosecution Agreement required Roger Williams to hire an “Executive Ethics Officer,” submit to oversight by monitors to ensure compliance with the agreement, and provide increased free health care. 

            In the November 19 letter proposing to terminate the agreement, U.S. Attorney Corrente and Belcher agreed that some programs created as a result of the agreement would continue.  They include funding, through July 2008, of a Prisoner Re-Entry Assessment Program and the Ryan White Foundation Grant, which were instituted as part of the Medical Center’s free care commitment.  The Medical Center must also permanently maintain Executive Ethics Officer position.
            “On behalf of everyone here at the United States Attorney’s office who has been involved in this matter, please extend our thanks and congratulations to your staff members and to the Monitors for a job well done,” U.S. Attorney Corrente wrote.  

           

           

Contact: 401-709-5032                Thomas.connell@usdoj.gov