The financial challenges faced by UConn Health in Farmington have been well-documented, with an average loss of $140 million per year over the past four years. To address these longstanding issues, Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration enlisted the help of consulting firm Cain Brothers to conduct a comprehensive analysis and propose solutions.
Recently released report from Hartford Courant reporter Chris Keating identified one of UConn Health’s major issues as its relatively small number of staffed hospital beds. With only 234 beds in Farmington, the health system lacks the scale necessary for cost-saving measures like combining back-office operations, IT operations, and computer operations. In comparison, other nearby health care systems like Yale New Haven Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital have significantly more beds, making it easier for them to streamline operations.
The Cain Brothers report presented three main options for improving the budget situation: leasing out space in UConn John Dempsey Hospital, combining IT and administrative services with another hospital, or completely merging with another hospital system. However, these options may not fully solve the scale problem that UConn Health is facing.
The decision on UConn Health’s future will ultimately be made by a combination of state lawmakers, new UConn Health President Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, and the UConn Health Center board of trustees. The report provided a blueprint for potential strategies moving forward