“If we only take care of you when sick, we're not talking about,
‘Do you have safe healthy housing to go home to? Are you going to have another asthma attack as soon as you get home?’”
-Community conversation participant
Priority 8: Governance Achieving the priorities and recommendations of this report will rely on the strength and responsiveness of the governance and leadership of the IAHS, both at the holding company and hospital board level. Bringing in additional community power and voice into existing and new governance structures is an important step towards building accountability. Having leadership who understand the issues and needs of their patients and the broader community will lead to better decisions about how to serve these individuals and groups. Participants in the community conversations felt strongly that some type of external governing body or board that is representative of the community should provide oversight to ensure that the merged health system is able to effectively serve the needs of all Rhode Islanders. Given all of this, it is important that the governance structure of the IAHS be representative of the community that it serves. Sufficient support for this broadened leadership is also important so that all members feel welcomed and essential, and are able to play a substantive role.
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