Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has named 17 people to a task force intended to review how the state regulates health care facilities and organizations.
In a February executive order, Malloy called for the review of the state’s certificate of need process, which governs whether hospitals, nursing homes, residential care facilities and certain physician organizations can open certain facilities, acquire certain equipment, change ownership or eliminate services.
The task force will be led by Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, who has taken the lead on many health care-related initiatives for the administration. Other members are:
- Raul Pino, commissioner, Department of Public Health
- Roderick Bremby, commissioner, Department of Social Services
- Anne Foley, undersecretary for policy development & planning, Office of Policy & Management
- David Whitehead, chief of strategy & transformation, Hartford HealthCare
- Gary Havican, vice president of strategic planning and ambulatory operations, Middlesex Hospital
- Robert Patricelli, founder and CEO, Women’s Health USA
- Mag Morelli, president, LeadingAge Connecticut
- Gary Price, medical director and owner, The Center for Aesthetic Surgery
- Joseph Wankerl, vice president of network strategy & operations, ConnectiCare
- Keith Stover, government relations, Connecticut Association of Health Plans
- John Canham-Clyne, deputy research director, UNITE HERE
- Jennifer Smith, political director and vice president, SEIU District 1199
- Fred Hyde, clinical professor of health policy and management, Columbia University; Fordham University Fellow, Global Healthcare Innovation Management Center
- Tekisha Everette, executive director, Health Equity Solutions
- Jeff Walter, interim CEO, CT Community Nonprofit Alliance
- Alan Kaye, president, Radiological Society of Connecticut
The group’s first meeting will be at 1 p.m., April 12, in the state Capitol, Room 310.
Malloy charged the task force with identifying challenges and gaps in the state’s efforts to regulate health care services and facilities, and recommending ways to improve them. The group has until Dec. 1 to report on its findings.
As part of the order, Malloy prohibited the state Department of Public Health from ruling on certain pending applications for changes in hospital ownership until after the task force completes its work, or to deny any applications that must receive a decision before next year. That directly affects the pending proposal by New London’s Lawrence + Memorial Hospital to join the Yale New Haven Health System, and could slow down a potential affiliation between Hartford HealthCare and Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington.