Technology and Infrastructure Improvements

Lifespan continually invests in the latest diagnostic and treatment technology as well as infrastructure improvements for our patients’ maximum comfort and benefit. The following list describes just a recent few of the many significant improvements we’ve made.

Over the last 13 years, Lifespan has invested more than $1 billion in these programs.

• Rhode Island Hospital’s Andrew F. Anderson Emergency Center is the only hospital in New England with an MRI system within its emergency center. With the addition of the MRI, the center is able to offer patients the full array of imaging capabilities in one location.
• The Cardiovascular Institute at Rhode Island Hospital was the first in New England to treat a patient using a single-lead implantable cardiac defibrillator and was among the first to perform EX-MAZE, a treatment that delivers energy inside and outside the heart to treat atrial fibrillation.
• Rhode Island Hospital is the first hospital in the world to acquire the BodyTom CT scanner, a portable, intra-operative, multi-slice CT body scanner. The new technology will be used in the surgical treatment of patients with neurological disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, cerebral palsy, and brain and spine tumors.
• Rhode Island Hospital is the first in Rhode Island to acquire a True Beam linear accelerator to perform advanced radiotherapy for cancer anywhere in the body.
• The Pappas Center for Breast Imaging was among the first facilities to offer patients one of the most significant advancements in breast imaging—breast tomosynthesis, which is digital mammography that provides three-dimensional (3-D) images of the breast. For screening mammography, tomosynthesis improves radiologists’ ability to confirm that tissue is normal, thereby sparing many patients the need to return for additional images.
• Lifespan opened a retail pharmacy at Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital to make it easier for patients to leave the hospital with the medications they need, thereby increasing adherence that will keep our patients healthier. The pharmacy is also available for patients in the emergency department, ambulatory surgery center and outpatient clinics, as well as for Lifespan employees and their families.
• The Miriam Hospital recently modernized and expanded the hospital’s busy emergency department and created a new outpatient unit for patients undergoing diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterizations. Private exam areas replaced existing curtained bays to promote infection control, reduce noise and improve patient confidentiality.
• Newport Hospital renovated the Vanderbilt Rehabilitation Center with new spaces including an orthopedic gym, a pediatric area, an occupational therapy room, a neurological gym and cardiac rehabilitation space.
• Bradley Hospital welcomed patients to an award-winning new inpatient building that combines innovative green design with the creation of a safe and healing environment for patients and families.
• Hasbro Children’s Hospital completed work on a new medical/psychiatric inpatient unit jointly operated by Hasbro and Bradley hospitals. The unique 16-bed unit—the only one of its kind in the region—is intended for children ages 6 to 18 with both challenging mental health and medical conditions that require hospitalization.
• Hasbro Children’s Hospital also undertook an $800,000 renovation project that revamped all of its pediatric operating suites. The renovation allows the hospital to offer advanced endoscopic surgery, enhanced neurosurgical procedures (through use of monitors and microscopes), and better patient and staff flow. The project was made possible by the Children’s Miracle Network.