UConn Health’s board of directors told lawmakers in a recent letter that a public-private partnership may be its best chance at long-term sustainability.
The April 1 letter, a requirement included in the two-year state budget passed last year, does not say which potential partners UConn Health might be eyeing.
Hartford Business Journal first reported the possibility of a UConn Health partnership strategy in December.
The system, which includes the 234-bed John Dempsey Hospital, a medical group and medical and dental schools, said it’s engaged outside counsel and a communications firm and that it intends to issue a request for proposals for a financial consultant to help it assess the market and manage the process of soliciting and analyzing proposals from potential partners.
“Assuming we identify a desirable partner and partnership model we are targeting substantial completion of a public-private partnership as soon as reasonably feasible,” reads the three-page letter, signed by UConn Health CEO Dr. Andrew Agwunobi and Board Chairman Sanford Cloud Jr.
The exact structure of any potential deal is unknown. UConn Health proposed a merger with Hartford Hospital in 2009, but the deal fell through.
The system said it’s been working for the past three years to position itself as a desirable partner, shoring up revenue, avoiding seeking deficit funding, opening a new outpatient pavilion and teaching hospital and advancing its collaboration with The Jackson Laboratory.
“Despite UConn Health’s successes, we believe our long term sustainability may be best secured through an appropriate public-private partnership,” the letter said.
