The days of independent community hospitals in Connecticut are nearing an end, to the worry of healthcare advocates raising red flags about for-profit providers entering the state. Connecticut long has been resistant to the for-profit model, but clinging to old ways is no longer an option. Faced with the need to invest in technology and infrastructure, cash-strapped nonprofit hospitals need financial help. Jumping into the arms of deep-pocketed merger partners is their best chance at long-term survival.
Healthcare advocates have questioned whether for-profit hospitals will meet the needs of uninsured patients. They fear hospitals will put bottom lines ahead of care quality, reduce access to low-margin patients, and cut programs or staff. Those fears are real, but Connecticut’s healthcare industry is tightly regulated. Any merger deal likely will have strings attached, forcing hospitals to guarantee quality and access.
The real access issue arises if Connecticut hospitals are forced to shutter their doors because they can’t make ends meet. That threat also exists. Take Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN), the parent of Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals, which is nearing a deal to be bought by an undisclosed for-profit operator.
With state budget cuts, federal sequestration, expected declines in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, and $100 million in debt, ECHN will be a money-losing operation for the foreseeable future, an unsustainable financial path, says CEO Peter Karl.
A for-profit corporate structure will bring economies of scale and provide access to much needed capital, making it easier for hospitals to meet demands of modern day medicine.
Change is never easy, but it’s the new reality of the health care industry. The sooner the state warms up to new models of care, the better it will adapt.
Bravo Rowlson, West Hartford
After 16 years as the face of West Hartford business development, Rob Rowlson has one more task before exiting stage left into retirement: bow.
Rowlson’s mastery in projects like Blue Back Square rightly earned him praise from businesses he served. His real achievement, though, was saving Greater Hartford as a destination and giving the region an economic development model.
Slowly over the past 50 years, Hartford lost its status as the region’s urban center. As workers moved to suburbs, and the city built bigger roads and parking spaces for commuters, the concept of Hartford as a visitor and residential destination slipped away.
In stepped Rowlson, and the rest of the West Hartford economic development team, to implement a vision of the town as a living and working destination in Central Connecticut. Willing to accommodate business needs of any shape and size, the town has reaped the benefits in reputation and property taxes — $3 million annually from Blue Back Square alone.
Unfortunately, West Hartford can go only so far, as the town’s modest-sized commercial district can never be the urban center needed for an area as big as Central Connecticut.
Hartford is underway with several programs like iQuilt and iConnect to revive the city’s luster. While the success of Hartford’s revitalization hinges on countless factors, city officials would be wise to gaze immediately west to behold how a purposeful vision and strong advocacy can help define a region’s identity.
Maybe, in another 16 years, someone from Hartford will be ready to take a bow.
