Dr. Joseph Renzulli is no stranger to Warwick.

He grew up in the Cowesett section of Warwick and graduated from Toll Gate High School. 

Now the Toll Gate graduate is once again in Warwick at an office a mile down the road from where he graduated. 

Yale New Haven Health opened a North East Medical Group urology office at 176 Toll Gate Road in August. It's the first Yale New Haven North East Medical Group subspecialty office to open outside of Westerly in Rhode Island. 

After being in Rhode Island the past few years at Westerly Hospital, Yale New Haven Health expanded to give more patients in Rhode Island access to see them. 

Renzulli said that with the proposed merger between Care New England and Lifespan likely to happen, Yale New Haven Health believes it's important for patients to be able to seek a second opinion close to home from a doctor that doesn’t belong to the same group or company.

“It's another opportunity for a different group to come in and offer opinions to patients,” Renzulli said. 

According to a press release from Yale New Haven Health “NEMG urologists offer comprehensive and coordinated care to both men and women, as well as children. Conditions specific to men include erectile dysfunction, male infertility, enlarged prostate and testicular cancer. Female urology involves the diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract disorders most prevalent in women.”

“Advanced, minimally invasive procedures are conveniently performed at Westerly Hospital,” the release reads. 

Renzulli who previously worked for 12 years in Providence at Brown was hired by Yale New Haven Health to begin the Rhode Island expansion particularly for urology. 

As part of the process they did a search for urologists to work in the office, Renzulli explained. They quickly realized that doctors who have already worked in Rhode Island for years were interested in joining. The urologists who work in the Warwick office have all spent time practicing in Rhode Island. 

It means that while a patient’s urologist may have left the practice that they were at before they can still see them in Warwick. 

“They get to continue with their doctors,” Renzulli said. 

The urologists currently consist of Renzulli who is the regional medical director and chief of urology at Westerly Hospital, Dr. Eric Bradley Miller, Physician Assistant Emily Henault, Dr. Joseph Heineman Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Lauren Houle ,and Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Randy Wolfe.

Renzulli said that another plus is the fact that the urologists in the office have already worked together before throughout their careers. 

“We’ve really all come together from all parts of the state,” he said. 

Renzulli said that since Westerly Hospital was bought by Yale New Haven Health they have invested a lot of resources into the hospital including for urology. 

“This is state of the art in urology what is going on down in Westerly. This is what is in Boston, what's in New York and New Haven that's now in Westerly,” Miller said. 

Renzulli said that there are plans in the works with the hopes of bringing more subspecialty offices across Rhode Island. 

“Hopefully we will be able to bring more subspecialties and more primary care into Rhode Island.”