The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Hospitals prepare to join forces
Charlotte Hungerford to affiliate with Hartford HealthCare
TORRINGTON — Charlotte Hungerford Hospital and Hartford HealthCare officials signed letters of affilitation at a ceremony Monday at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital.
Executives from both organizations, members of the Charlotte Hungerford board, local politicians and the mayor of Torrington attended the ceremony.
The hospitals have received approval of their Certificate of Need application, and the official affiliation is set to begin Jan. 1. They will begin a 120-day strategic planning process to outline the priorities and plans for the affiliation. The two organizations will outline the organizational goals that will form the basis for the transition and future operations.
As a result of the affiliation, CHH will become a member of Hartford HealthCare, which includes Hartford Hospital, Backus Hospital, The Hospital of Central Connecticut, MidState Medical Center, Natchaug Hospital, Windham Hospital and a broad spectrum of urgent care, outpatient care, a primary care network, health centers, rehabilitation, senior services, LifeStar, home care, surgery centers, the state’s largest behavioral health network and other health services.
“With this final step of our affiliation in place, a timely and thoughtful transformation of our health services will begin so that access to care is secure for the people of northwest Connecticut and the future of that care is a strategic blending of CHH’s historic sense of place and purpose with the financial, clinical, and operational acumen that come with being part of a larger health system.” said Dan McIntyre, president and
executive director at CHH.
“We are delighted to have reached this important milestone and look forward to this affiliation with Charlotte Hungerford,” said Elliot Joseph, HHC’s chief executive officer. “Bringing our vision of being most trusted for personalized coordinated care to the residents of Northwestern Connecticut — in partnership with Charlotte Hungerford — is a true win for everyone, especially the local community. Building a true system of care across the continuum requires these types of new relationships.”
The affiliation will enable both organizations to share the knowledge and expertise of their staffs and physicians and give patients easier access to a wider range of services, technology and treatments.
The goal of the strategic partnership is to enhance CHH’s existing services and programs, improve care coordination, provide additional access points for care delivery, support the recruitment of skilled providers, assist with community benefit programming and allowing for further infrastructure investments.
With a backdrop of an evolving health care delivery system, reimbursement challenges and new patient demographics, CHH engaged in a self-assessment and evaluation process to address strategic options. The conclusion found compelling reasons for CHH to seek a strategic affiliation with a larger system.
Through a rigorous and competitive evaluation process driven by members of the community and medical staff, Hartford HealthCare was selected as the preferred system to partner with because it demonstrated the greatest collaboration for an affiliation, a mutual commitment to grow services and the clearest shared vision. Hartford HealthCare officials cited CHH’s tradition of providing high-quality care to the people of northwestern Connecticut, as well as the organization’s robust partnerships with local agencies and groups, in their reasons for the affiliation.
Visit www.charlottehungerford.org or hartfordhealthcare.org for news and updates.