South County Health has become the first health care organization in Rhode Island to join the Mayo Clinic Care Network, giving local doctors direct access to Mayo Clinic specialists, research and clinical resources. The Wakefield-based system says the partnership could reduce how often patients need to travel outside Rhode Island for second opinions and specialty consultations, while South County Health remains an independent health system.
According to WJAR, South County Health patients will benefit from Mayo Clinic expertise delivered through their existing South County Health providers, at no additional cost. South County Health clinicians can now consult Mayo Clinic specialists about complex cases, take part in multidisciplinary case reviews, and tap a clinical information resource developed by Mayo Clinic physicians, along with digital tools that use artificial intelligence. Much of that remote consultation happens through Mayo's eConsult system, which lets affiliated doctors send electronic patient files and imaging directly to Mayo specialists for second opinions without creating extra out-of-pocket costs for patients, according to Mayo Clinic.
“Today marks a defining moment for South County Health and the communities we serve,” said South County Health President and CEO Aaron Robinson, per the station's report. Robinson added that the membership expands access to clinical expertise while preserving the system's community-based care. Dr. Ryan Uitti welcomed South County Health into the network, saying its commitment to quality, safety and patient-centered care aligns with the Mayo Clinic Care Network's values, the same account notes.
A Network Marking Its 15th Year
South County Health's entry comes as the Mayo Clinic Care Network celebrates a major milestone of its own. The network was founded in 2011 and now includes more than 50 member organizations representing 80 hospitals and nearly 20,000 physicians, per the WJAR report. The network marked its 15th anniversary this September, having grown from its first member, Altru Health System in North Dakota, according to Mayo Clinic News Network.
Rhode Island is not the first New England state to pursue this kind of arrangement. Middlesex Health in Connecticut became the first hospital in Connecticut, and the second in New England, to join the Mayo Clinic Care Network, using the clinical partnership to conduct joint cancer research and obtain remote subspecialty consults, according to Mayo Clinic. South County Health, by contrast, is now the first Rhode Island organization to do so.
An Independent System in a Consolidating Market
South County Health describes itself as an independent nonprofit system built around the 100-bed South County Hospital, along with six outpatient locations across the region. The hospital traces its roots to 1919, when it opened in a small private residence before moving to its permanent Wakefield campus in 1925, where a new facility was built on six acres and funded primarily by Hazard family members, according to information compiled by Wikipedia. The health system employs approximately 1,300 personnel and operates community facilities including VNS Home Health Services and an outpatient urgent care location in East Greenwich, the same source notes.
The Mayo affiliation arrives amid broader consolidation pressure across Rhode Island's health care market. Lifespan finalized terms for a rebrand in June 2024 and officially changed its name to Brown University Health in October 2024 following a seven-year, $150 million funding commitment from Brown University, as reported by Fierce Healthcare. That shift has left South County Health standing as Rhode Island's last independent health system, facing structural competition from larger academic networks.
Recent Scrutiny Over Leadership and Staffing
The Mayo Clinic partnership also follows a period of internal tension at South County Health. In January 2025, a group of local physicians, donors, and former trustees publicly called on the health system's board to replace CEO Aaron Robinson, citing staff resignations among primary care doctors and cancer specialists amid financial pressures, according to The Public's Radio. Robinson was appointed President and CEO in February 2019 and officially took over on April 1 of that year, succeeding longtime CEO Louis Giancola.
South County Hospital currently has a four-star Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, after previously receiving five stars, and exceeds averages on some patient-experience measures. The system has also expanded its surgical offerings in recent years, launching robotic Aquablation urological therapy in January 2024 and maintaining a joint Center for Advanced Orthopedic Surgery with Ortho Rhode Island.
Whether the Mayo Clinic affiliation will ease the physician retention concerns raised by local doctors and former trustees remains to be seen. For now, South County Health leadership is framing the partnership as a way to widen specialty access for patients across Washington County without ceding local control of the century-old institution.
