VITALLY NEEDED
There is inherent and unmistakable value in UConn Health’s public mission and the service it provides to the state of Connecticut — including the hundreds of thousands of medical and dental care visits we see each year. UConn Health is a thriving institut
As chair of the UConn Health Board of Directors, I need to bring relevant facts to bear to correct recent news and editorial coverage stating that UConn Health is requesting a “bailout” of millions of dollars to “cover losses,” and suggesting that the state would be better off without a hospital that has a public mission. These assertions stem from a misunderstanding regarding what UConn Health is requesting from the legislature and how UConn Health’s public mission benefits the citizens of Connecticut.
First, UConn Health is not asking for a “bailout” from the state. Rather it is asking for relief from being required to pay over $50 million each year in state “legacy costs.” These are costs that the state charges UConn Health and UConn to help cover the state’s pension and health care liabilities for already retired state employees of all state agencies in Connecticut (not just UConn Health).
These legacy liability costs, which accumulated over decades, are fully paid by the state for most other agencies, but not for UConn Health and UConn. Instead, UConn Health must use patient care revenue, tuition and other self-generated funds to fund these costs, which prevents UConn Health from achieving our full financial potential despite robust revenue growth and expense reductions in recent years. For example, if UConn Health did not have to pay these state legacy costs from operations, we would have finished the fiscal year ahead of budget, rather than in deficit.
It is worth noting that more than 75% of UConn Health’s budget is funded through self-generated revenue, primarily through the clinical care we provide.
Secondly, opinions voiced recently in the press about viewing the teaching hospital as separate and less important to the state than the academic enterprise fail to acknowledge the value that UConn Health’s integrated clinical and academic enterprise brings to the citizens of Connecticut and to the education and research mission. UConn Health’s public mission to ensure access to cutting-edge care for all Connecticut citizens cannot be understated, which is why we draw our patients from every one of the 169 cities and towns in Connecticut. Whether it is behavioral health care for all, specialty medical and surgical care for Medicaid or underinsured patients, high-end procedures performed in an academic setting, or care for rare and often unprofitable conditions, our public mission sets us apart from other health care organizations.
There is inherent and unmistakable value in UConn Health’s public mission and the service it provides to the state of Connecticut — including the hundreds of thousands of medical and dental care visits we see each year. The state made an extraordinary investment in UConn Health in the form of Bioscience Connecticut, fueling economic growth based on bioscience research, innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization. UConn Health directly supports 5,000 Connecticut jobs, is the largest source of medical and dental professionals in the state and provides over $2 billion
in overall economic impact for Connecticut.
In UConn Health, we have an institution at the leading edge of patient care, teaching and research, of which Connecticut and its citizens can be proud. UConn Health is thankful to the governor and members of the legislature for their support, and we look forward to continuing to partner with the state to reduce the legacy costs assigned to UConn Health so our funds can be devoted to the important work our employees do every day for the people of Connecticut.
Sanford Cloud Jr. is the chair of the UConn Health Board of Directors and a member of the university’s Board of Trustees.