Federal bailout money won’t be enough to make up for revenue that has vanished since the pandemic began.
Bristol Hospital
Posted inHealth
Yale New Haven Health officials describe COVID-19 impact, other hospitals less forthcoming
More than half the beds at Greenwich Hospital are filled with COVID-19 patients. The picture is less clear elsewhere.
Posted inMoney
Can tax break promises be kept?
Seniors, teachers, hospitals, corporations and other groups are pressing lawmakers to deliver the tax relief they pledged in 2017 — even though Gov. Ned Lamont says Connecticut no longer can afford it.
Posted inHealth, Money
Small community hospitals struggle to avoid a downward spiral
Many in health care say joining larger systems is key to small hospitals’ survival. But some policymakers are wary of the trend, saying it can raise prices without necessarily improving quality. And leaders of the state’s few remaining independent community hospitals say their organizations are facing stresses that could jeopardize their viability.
Posted inHealth
Hospitals worry Medicaid, Obamacare changes could bring pain
With the potential for major changes in federal health care policy looming, hospital leaders are watching closely, worried especially that cuts to Medicaid could bring a big financial hit and that a repeal of Obamacare could raise the number of uninsured Connecticut residents.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Bristol project becomes focus of tensions between state, hospitals
In the latest volley in a longstanding dispute over the financial health of Connecticut hospitals, state budget director Benjamin Barnes on Monday questioned Bristol Hospital’s plans to build a new medical office building and recruit staff, noting that hospital supporters had recently warned that state funding was needed to avoid compromising the community’s health and access to care. The hospital said Barnes was making unfounded accusations and mischaracterizing the situation.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Hospitals say state puts them between a rock and a hard place
As hospital officials describe it, state policy is pushing them in two opposing directions. Higher state taxes and funding cuts have added to the factors pushing independent community hospitals to join larger health systems, they say. But at the same time, legislators concerned about the growth of large health systems have been pushing for new restrictions on changes in hospital ownership, which hospital officials say makes it harder for them to adapt.
Posted inHealth
As health care changes, can independent hospitals survive?
As large hospital systems have grown in Connecticut, the state now has just seven hospitals that are not part of a bigger system or in talks to join one. Are the remaining independents holding out for the right suitor? Or do they see a path forward as independent hospitals at a time when more hospital leaders are taking the opposite view?
Posted inHealth
Hospitals could face larger cut
The governor cut $192 million in Medicaid funding for hospitals last month, but the actual hit to hospitals could end up being 25 percent higher. The state is holding back additional payments that weren’t part of the cost-saving measure, and the governor’s budget office said decisions about whether to pay them will be “based on whether we have enough money to keep the budget in balance.”
Posted inHealth
Bristol Hospital eliminates 43 positions, citing cuts in payments
Bristol Hospital has eliminated 43 positions in recent weeks, reducing its workforce by 5 percent in response to major cuts to Medicaid and Medicare payments, CEO Kurt Barwis wrote in a memo to staff, volunteers and community members Friday.
Posted inHealth
Tenet, Malloy give up talks on reviving hospital acquisitions
Tenet Healthcare and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Wednesday that they are ending discussions about the Texas company’s acquiring Connecticut hospitals.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Tenet ends bid to acquire five Connecticut hospitals
Tenet Healthcare Corporation notified state regulators Thursday it was withdrawing its applications to buy five hospitals in Connecticut, ending a two-year effort by a major for-profit hospital chain to enter the volatile Connecticut market.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Waterbury says regulators endanger hospital deals
Waterbury’s mayor and the state’s hospital industry say that Connecticut regulators are jeopardizing plans by a national for-profit hospital chain to buy the city’s two struggling hospitals and others in Bristol, Manchester and Vernon.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Democrats want more oversight on hospital ownership changes
The future of Bristol Hospital is as part of a large network, CEO Kurt Barwis believes. But that vision of the hospital’s future relies in part on the legislature: With the strong encouragement of organized labor, legislators will make expanding the regulatory oversight needed for changes in hospital ownership a top priority this year.