By Associated Press

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Woonsocket’s mayor says Governor Lincoln Chafee has assured him he won’t veto legislation that could threaten the purchase of Landmark Medical Center by a Massachusetts hospital chain.

The Woonsocket Call reports that Mayor Leo Fontaine says he was told in a meeting with Chafee on Thursday that the governor won’t veto the bill that makes changes to the Hospital Conversions Act sought by Steward Health Care System.

The bill eliminates a three-year waiting period for a for-profit company to buy another hospital.

Chafee indicated earlier this week he might veto the bill, and Woonsocket officials worried that would kill the deal.

Fontaine says the hospital’s closure would be devastating to Woonsocket.

A spokesperson for the governor could not immediately be reached.