The hospital was founded through an 1894 bequest from William F. Sayles, a businessman and philanthropist who owned mills in Saylesville, Rhode Island.

The hospital was a 294-bed facility serving the Blackstone Valley of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.

Memorial Hospital was a teaching affiliate of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

[1][2][3] On October 18, 2017, Care New England announced its plans to close Memorial Hospital, which had been struggling financially for the previous ten years.

This enabled CNE to create a situation in which patient volume decreased at Memorial Hospital, which in turn could be used as an excuse to further downsize.