James Moran, City of East Providence

One of the city’s fastest growing industrial sectors in this current economy has been in the healthcare and senior services industry. East Providence’s strategic location in the Providence metropolitan area has attracted numerous ambulatory care, senior care and assisted living facilities over the past decade and this trend has continued, and is likely to continue, into the foreseeable future.  As a current example, a new 75,000 s/f medical office building, presently under construction at 375 Wampanoag Trail, will be used for ambulatory health care facilities and general medical offices. Its completion is expected in April.   

The city is pleased to announce that a second medical office building has been approved by the East Providence waterfront commission and will be commencing construction this year. University Orthopedics has been approved for an 82,500 s/f medical office building located within the Kettle Point mixed-use development project on Veterans Memorial Parkway.  The building will consolidate several University Orthopedics offices located throughout R.I.  There will be approximately one hundred employees relocating to the building, although there are plans to add more workers in the future.  The services offered will include outpatient orthopedic doctor’s appointments, physical therapy, hand therapy, and urgent care only for orthopedic, MRI, and outpatient surgery in 20,000 s/f of surgery space.  This exciting news is indicative of the current trend of shifting medical services into more suburban locations, where convenient access and parking are preferred to the challenges of centralized medical facilities in high density urban areas with limited or inconvenient parking options. East Providence is very strategically located to take advantage of this growing trend in the medical industry.  Other strategically located parcels in the city with great access to highways and public transportation provide great potential in the future to promote additional expansion of medical and senior assistance facilities.

The city is eager to assist anyone looking to establish a new business or who may be seeking to expand their existing business in East Providence. Business owners, developers and other parties who are interested in learning more about our economic development programs and initiatives in East Providence are urged to visit the city’s website at www.eastprovidence.com or the city’s waterfront district website at www.eastprovidencewaterfront.com for more information on economic activities in our city.

James Moran is the economic planner for East Providence, R.I.