🔒HHC seeks to acquire Wallingford-based cardiologist group for $3M

Fresh off acquiring two hospitals east of the Connecticut River, Hartford HealthCare is now seeking to acquire a large cardiologist group based in Wallingford for $3 million. Hartford HealthCare Medical Group Inc. (HHCMG), a unit of the state’s second-largest health system, filed a certificate of need (CON) application with the state Office of Health Strategy on Monday. It proposes to acquire Consulting Cardiologists P.C., a privately held for-profit cardiology practice based at 1062 Barnes Road, in Wallingford, but with offices in three counties. The application states that HHCMG’s total capital expenditure for the acquisition would be $3 million. HHCMG proposes acquiring the assets of the cardiologist group via its subsidiary, Hartford HealthCare Medical Group Specialist PLLC. Once the acquisition is complete, the physicians, staff and offices would be integrated into HHCMG under the direction of the HHC Heart and Vascular Institute, the application states. A spokesperson for HHC said the health system cannot comment on pending state regulatory approvals. Founded in 1971, Consulting Cardiologists has provided comprehensive cardiac care to patients for nearly 55 years. It has 16 physicians and five advanced practitioners, with 10 offices located in Avon, Cheshire, Glastonbury, Hartford, Manchester, Middletown, Wallingford, West Hartford and Wethersfield. The practice serves patients who primarily reside in Hartford, Middlesex and New Haven counties. The application states it has become “increasingly difficult for private practitioners to sustain the costs” of doing business, including those for recruiting, succession planning, competitive wage-and-benefit offerings for staff, new technology and state-of-the-art equipment. All of that is needed, HHCMG states, “to participate in value-based care models and to continue to provide high quality care within the community.” The application adds that the challenges have led private practices to align with health systems or other entities to help manage the costs and provide the needed infrastructure. HHCMG adds that Consulting Cardiologists is “highly aligned” with the HHC Heart and Vascular Institute, with several of the practice’s physicians serving in leadership positions, including as heart transplant director at Hartford Hospital and as medical director-HVI at MidState Medical Center. Consulting Cardiologists’ physicians also provide clinical and teaching services for cardiology fellows at Hartford Hospital and at the HHC Tallwood Urology Institute, it said. OHS will review the application and determine whether a public hearing is necessary. As of Jan. 1, HHC officially took ownership of Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals, formerly owned by the for-profit, California-based Prospect Medical Holdings.