Press Room

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• 2/23/2020 OHS Announces Healthcare Cost Growth Benchmark Technical Team and Stakeholder Board

  (HARTFORD, CT) – Today, the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) announced the members of the Cost Growth Benchmark Technical Team and the Cost Growth Benchmark Stakeholder Advisory Board, two groups formed to establish Connecticut’s first healthcare cost growth bench as outlined by Governor Ned Lamont’s Executive Order No. 5. The order directs OHS to establish statewide healthcare cost growth and quality benchmarks and a primary care spending target.

• 2/19/2020 OHS: Certificate of Need Guide Will Make the Regulatory Process More Transparent and Easier to Understand

  (HARTFORD, CT) – Today, the Office of Health Strategy released a guidebook to help consumers and healthcare providers better understand the Certificate of Need (CON) process—the state’s regulatory mechanism governing health system mergers and acquisitions; major investments in new equipment or facilities; and changes in healthcare access such as adding or terminating a health service.

• 2/19/2020 OHS Releases CON Guide

• 1/21/2020 Governor Lamont Signs Executive Orders on Reducing Healthcare Costs for Connecticut Residents

  Governor Lamont Signs Executive Orders on Reducing Healthcare Costs for Connecticut Residents Orders Direct State to Establish Healthcare Cost Growth and Quality Benchmarks, and Improve Transparency of Medicaid Costs and Quality

• 11/13/2019 Office of Health Strategy and Comptroller Lembo Release 2019 Connecticut Self-Sufficiency Standard Report

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) and State Comptroller Kevin Lembo today released the 2019 Connecticut Self-Sufficiency Standard report. The report examines the costs of basic needs such as housing, food, transportation, childcare, and healthcare in each city and town in the state, then calculates what individuals and families must earn to provide these fundamental supports without any financial assistance.

• 10/29/2019 OHS Releases Annual Hospital and Health System Financial Status and Facility Fees Trend Report

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) today released two reports, the Annual Report on the Financial Status of Connecticut’s Short Term Acute Care Hospitals and Facility Fee Trends. The Financial Stability report aggregates information concerning the financial health of Connecticut’s 28 acute care hospitals and 16 health systems. It includes financial performance data for individual hospitals, identifies fiscal trends, and reports on hospital hiring. The Facility Fee report examines current revenues generated by facility fees, the medical procedures that generate those fees, and the four-year trend data.

• 10/17/2019 Office Of Health Strategy Issues Final Decision In Manchester Hospital/St Francis Hospital Certificate Of Need Application To Expand Cardiac Care

  (HARTFORD, CT) – Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) Executive Director Vicki Veltri today announced that a final decision has been rendered in the Manchester Hospital/St. Francis Hospital Certificate of Need application for the establishment of a diagnostic and emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (angioplasty) program at Manchester Hospital. Regulators approved the creation of primary—or emergency—angioplasty and upheld the June 2019 denial of elective angioplasty services. In rendering its final decision, OHS examined the original application and public hearing record in addition to considering new information brought forth by the applicants during oral argument.

• 10/7/2019 OHS HealthscoreCT Gets a Cost Estimator for Medical Care

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS), joined by Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, Senator Matt Lesser, co-chair, and Senator Kevin Kelly, ranking member, of the legislature’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee, today launched the Healthscore CT cost estimator, a consumer tool that allows users to compare the cost of medical care at Connecticut hospitals and provider networks. The interactive website allows consumers and providers to search, sort, and filter by location, health measure, provider, network quality rating, and cost.

• 10/1/2019 Cost Feature

• 8/15/2019 OHS: Conditions Applied To Yale New Haven Hospital Primary Care Certificate of Need Approval

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) announced today that it has approved, with conditions to ensure healthcare access, the Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) Certificate of Need application to terminate outpatient primary care services. The New Haven Primary Care Consortium, a newly-established partnership between Yale New Haven Hospital, the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center, and Fair Haven Community Health Center, will provide continued access to primary care services for the 25,000 residents currently served by YNHH. Cornell Scott-Hill Health and Fair Haven Community Health, both federally-qualified health centers, will lease new office space from YNHH at 150 Sargent Drive in New Haven, within two miles of the YNHH York Street and St. Raphael campuses.

• 8/16/2019 Agency Press Release

• 8/14/2019 OHS Conditions Approval of Hartford Healthcare Certificate of Need Applications to Acquire St. Vincent's  

  (HARTFORD, CT) – Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) Executive Director Vicki Veltri announced today that the Certificate of Need applications for SVMC Holdings, Inc., a newly formed subsidiary of Hartford HealthCare (HHC), to acquire St. Vincent’s Medical Center and St. Vincent’s Multispecialty Group has been approved with conditions to ensure continued access to high-quality and affordable healthcare.

• 8/12/2019 OHS Signs Joint Letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

  The Office of Health Strategy signed a joint letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Azar with the Connecticut State Medical Society and the Office of the Healthcare Advocate to oppose HHS' proposed rule that would discriminate against LGBTQ+ people seeking healthcare treatment.

• 8/6/2019 OHS: New Website Allows Consumers to Compare Healthcare Quality Ratings and Cost

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS), joined by Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, announced today that it has launched Healthscore CT, an online tool to help consumers, businesses, and healthcare providers compare the cost and quality of medical care at Connecticut hospitals and provider networks. The website has interactive tables and graphs that allow consumers to search, sort, and filter by entity, quality measure, health topic, and rating.

• 6/9/2019 OHS: Manchester Hospital Application for Cardiac Care Service Expansion Does Not Meet Statutory Criteria Required for Approval

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) announced today that the Certificate of Need application submitted by Manchester Hospital and St. Francis Hospital for the expansion of cardiac care services does not meet all of the criteria under Connecticut General Statutes § 19a-639 that are required for approval.