🔒St. Francis Hospital, other care providers eye expanded services, more M&A activity in 2020

Q&A talks with Dr. John F. Rodis, president of St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center about what’s ahead for his hospital and the broader industry in 2020.

Orthopedic surgery is a major service line that’s become increasingly competitive. St. Francis has its Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute (CJRI) and just across town Hartford Hospital has its Bone & Joint Institute. St. Francis is also planning to open a $26.2-million Orthopedic and Spine Surgery Center on Woodland Street. What’s driving these investments?

The U.S. population is aging and these individuals want to continue to stay active and not live with chronic pain. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons estimates that the volume of total-knee arthroplasty will increase 189 percent, to 1.3 million per year, by 2030. That volume is expected to rise by 3.8 percent per year until 2060.

The healthcare value transformation will continue to incentivize patients to utilize centers of excellence where they can receive great outcomes, delivered safely, all at reasonable costs.

Ambulatory surgery centers (where patients typically go home the same day as their surgery) are a more convenient option for patients and don’t have the substantial fixed costs of a 24/7/365 large level one trauma center.

Our Lighthouse Surgery Center, anticipated to open in early 2020, will provide state-of-the-art orthopedic services, pain management procedures and on-site physical therapists, all under one roof. Our orthopedic and spine surgeons and our Woodland Anesthesia group are all part of this joint venture.

Are there any other major capital projects in the works at St. Francis?

We have planned improvements in our cardiovascular and maternity units. We recently completed a new master facility plan and are in the midst of planning a new Smilow Cancer Hospital at St. Francis, which will be the result of either a major renovation to the existing building or a totally new building on the campus with repurposing of the old location.

Additionally, we are planning an expansion to our cancer services at our Enfield campus and to our urgent care ambulatory footprint to bring care closer to patients’ homes.

What are the biggest hurdles ahead in 2020 for hospitals in Connecticut?

The few remaining independent hospitals will face important decisions whether to stay independent or merge with one of the large systems in the region. These are hurdles for both the acquired hospital as well as the expanding systems.

The continued pressure to reduce costs and improve quality and outcomes at the same time will be challenging for some.

Trinity and St. Francis this past year continued to build on their clinical alliance with Yale New Haven Health, a partnership that began in 2015 when Yale opened a Smilow-branded cancer treatment facility at St. Francis. Recently, your crosstown competitor Hartford HealthCare announced it would pursue a proton beam thearpy cancer treatment facility in Wallingford with Yale. How is the competitive landscape for cancer care in Greater Hartford changing?

We support bringing the highest quality of care and patient technologies to the citizens of Connecticut. Rather than any one system absorbing the high cost of proton beam therapies, we support health systems and private enterprises joining forces to share these higher costs.

Our relationship with the Smilow Cancer Hospital continues to grow. More patients in Hartford have access to the latest clinical trials through our affiliation with Yale/Smilow. We’ve expanded our capabilities to Glastonbury, and we look forward to a long relationship providing patients with cancer the highest quality of care.