A state task force is seeking the public’s input on ways to help Connecticut’s hospitals with their financial problems and improve patients’ access to care.
The Gov.’s Hospital System Strategic Task Force has scheduled a public hearing for Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. in Room 1E of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.
Many of the state’s 30 acute care hospitals have been losing money or making thin profits. Statewide revenue from hospital operations totaled about $7 billion last year, about $100 million more than operating expenses. Operating margins ranged from 9 percent to negative 8 percent.
The task force’s preliminary recommendations are online at http://www.ct.gov/ohca. They include having the state increase Medicaid reimbursement rates, issue revenue bonds to help hospitals pay for new equipment and technology and provide resources to address shortages of nurses and other health care professionals.
