HOPKINTON, RI (March 4, 2025) — Wood River Health President and CEO Alison Croke will be U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner’s guest at President Trump’s address to the nation this evening.
The speech will be Trump’s first to a joint session of Congress in his second term.
Wood River Health is a federally qualified health center based in Hope Valley, which serves thousands of patients, many of whom rely on Medicaid for care. Wood River Health also operates a Westerly location and provides dental care on Block Island.
Just last week, Magaziner, D-2nd District, came to Wood River Health’s Hope Valley headquarters, where Croke and the facility’s care providers told him that deep cuts proposed to Medicaid by House Republicans would lead to layoffs, reductions in services for patients and more locally. Also last week, the House voted on Republicans’ budget plan that will slash at least $880 billion from programs under the Energy and Commerce Committee’s jurisdiction — cuts expected to primarily come from Medicaid.
Reached late Monday, Croke was at a loss for words when Magaziner extended his invite. But she also was honored to be asked.
“I’m glad to have this opportunity to elevate the attention to the issue of accessible healthcare, because it is important,” Croke said.
Community health centers like Wood River Health serve more than 200,000 Rhode Islanders, with Medicaid covering a majority of their funding.
“Medicaid plays an important role in families, especially in kids such as (with) vaccines,” Croke added. “The post-COVID health care market is a challenge to navigate right now. Hopefully for the community, seeing their elected officials make a stand can encourage the community to continue to grow. This helps our residents and the providers as well as hospitals, nursing homes and other places that are covered by Medicaid.”
The proposed Medicaid cuts in the federal budget would be financially devastating to health centers and many other providers in Rhode Island, Croke said.
“The roughly 82,000 Rhode Islanders eligible for Medicaid through the Expansion provision of the ACA rely on this coverage to give them access to primary medical and dental care, as well as treatment for behavioral health conditions,” she said. “This access to preventive care improves health outcomes and prevents spending on more expensive treatment options like emergency department visits and hospital stays.”
Under House Republicans’ proposed budget plans, more than 300,000 Rhode Islanders on Medicaid could lose access to care, according to Magaziner’s office.
Many community health centers, nursing homes and other health care providers that serve populations covered by Medicaid could be forced to reduce services or even close down under the Republican budget plan.
“One in five Rhode Islanders relies on community health centers for care, and their health care is now at risk due to proposed Republican cuts to Medicaid,” Magaziner said.
“I’m honored that Alison will be joining me for this address to highlight the critical role Medicaid plays in keeping Rhode Islanders healthy. I know we’ll both be listening closely to what the president has to say about the bipartisan popularity of supporting health centers and safeguarding Medicaid for the more than 140,000 in Rhode Island’s 2nd District who rely on it.”
A lifelong Rhode Islander, Croke previously held leadership positions at Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island and Xerox State Healthcare. She also serves on the boards of the Jonnycake Center for Hope and Bay View Academy.
Photo by Karen Stellmaker, Special to the Sun.
This story was published by Ryan Blessing and Joe Volpe, staff writers the Westerly Sun, on March 4, 2025. Read it here.
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