PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS
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APRIL 15 -28, 2022
HEALTH CARE | SPRING 2022
PBN SUMMIT RECAP Hospital leaders struggle to rebuild their ranks | 16
Panel: ARPA funds should be used to mend health safety net | 16
FOCUS: EDUCATION Davies students step up for early career launch | 22
YOUR SOURCE FOR BUSINESS NEWS IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND | VOL. 36, NO. 25 | $5
Pleas to fix R.I.’s ‘broken’ behavioral health system
EYES ON THE PRIZE
BY MARC LAROCQUE | Larocque@PBN.com
IN THE WAKE OF THE COVID-19 pandemic, treatment providers, advocates and lawmakers are calling for Rhode Island to confront its problems with access to mental health care. Despite a federal law called the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act that’s meant to prevent such problems, barriers to psychological treatment in Rhode Island make it hard for holders of both commercial insurance and Medicaid to see a provider, receive therapy and get the medication for mental conditions, according to advocates, therapists and patients. “At the moment, unfortunately, I would have to say that the behavioral
HEALTH MATTERS
SEE BROKEN PAGE 8
LIFTOFF: Jaia Robotics LLC owner Ian Estaphan Owen launches one of his company’s aquatic robots in Narragansett Bay. Newport-based Jaia could be a benefactor if the University of Rhode Island Research Foundation’s proposal to boost the blue economy is named a winner in the $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge. PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
2 key R.I. sectors could get $100M infusion from federal competition BY CASSIUS SHUMAN | Contributing Writer
IAN ONE LAST THING
Turn uncertainty into opportunity Peter A. Mello | 38
ESTAPHAN OWEN LAUNCHED A MARINE ROBOTICS COMPANY LESS THAN two years ago with the aim of helping combat the effects of climate change. But getting the Newport-based business up to speed hasn’t been easy. Owen, who worked at Raytheon Technologies Corp. in the United Kingdom before relocating to its facility in Portsmouth, developed underwater robotic equipment at several companies before founding Jaia Robotics LLC in 2020. The company uses torpedo-shaped robots to conduct geological surveys, identify hazards, track pollution and make other environmental assessments for its clients. “I have a passion for the environment,” Owen said. “We need a healthy ocean that is accessible to all.” Owen says the excitement surrounding Rhode Island’s blue economy was a motivator for starting his business, but for all the buzz, he’s finding there’s a lack of venture capital and job training, and not nearly enough support from the state government. “The state could do more to attract angel investors,” he said recently. Help could be on the way.
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