A new three-story medical campus has opened its doors in East Greenwich, giving South County Trail residents a one-stop option for everything from annual physicals to plastic surgery consultations. Care New England Medical Group has opened a new ambulatory care center at 1405 South County Trail, a 45,000-square-foot building that consolidates primary care, orthopedics, cardiology, obstetrics and gynecology, behavioral health, plastic surgery and diagnostic imaging into a single address.
The medical group announced the center on Oct. 22, according to Providence Business News, framing it as a response to mounting healthcare needs in the area and an effort to bring multiple outpatient services under one roof rather than scattering them across separate offices. Care New England also hosted a ribbon-cutting for the location, according to a Care New England announcement describing it as a full-service facility built around primary care.
A Whole Floor Named for the Outgoing CEO
The center's entire second floor will be home to the Michael Wagner, M.D. Center for Primary Care, a space honoring Dr. Michael Wagner, who currently leads Care New England Health System. Wagner is expected to step down from his role as CEO and president in 2027 to become chairman of the board, per the same PBN report, making the dedication a notable marker of a leadership transition already in motion.
Wagner said opening the facility was a career highlight and that he was honored by its dedication, the report notes. Roger Mitty, president of Care New England Medical Group, said the goal is to bring most patients' ambulatory needs to one accessible location — a line that doubles as the building's mission statement, given how many specialties now share its address.
Built for Speed, With Kiosks and Express Behavioral Care
The building itself was designed with efficiency in mind. It includes digital check-in kiosks and virtual registration options, with a layout meant to promote efficiency, privacy and comfort for patients moving between departments. The center's East Greenwich page also lists a Butler Behavioral Health Express Care option as coming soon, signaling that not every planned service is active on day one.
The facility's breadth — primary care alongside cardiology, orthopedics, OB-GYN, behavioral health, plastic surgery and imaging — reflects a broader push in Rhode Island to make outpatient care easier to access in one visit rather than requiring multiple appointments across town.
Why the Timing Matters for Rhode Island Patients
The opening lands amid a well-documented primary-care crunch statewide. Rhode Island needs at least 300 more primary care providers, according to research cited by the state's Health Insurance Commissioner and reported by Rhode Island Current. The outlet's review of 2024 insurance claims data found that fewer Rhode Islanders have a personal doctor for non-urgent concerns than they did a decade earlier.
The gap isn't evenly distributed. Fewer than half of Rhode Islanders with Medicaid through managed care organizations had a regular wellness visit with a primary care provider in 2024, compared with nearly seven in 10 commercially insured residents, the same report found. About one-third of Hispanic Rhode Islanders lack a reliable primary care doctor or nurse practitioner, and the outlet notes that commercial primary care providers in the state are paid an average of 30% less than their Massachusetts counterparts for the same services — a reimbursement gap often cited as a driver of provider shortages.
The East Greenwich center isn't the only recent addition to the state's outpatient landscape. Butler Hospital opened an express care clinic for mental health in Providence in January, and Rhode Island Medical Imaging has moved forward with plans for a new facility in Pawtucket, both signs of a broader expansion of specialized outpatient access across the state this year.
