Fasano, Kennedy Call for Public Hearing on East Haven, Branford Clinic Closures
July 1, 2015Hartford –Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano (R-North Haven) and Senator Ted Kennedy, Jr. (D-Branford) are asking Department of Public Health Commissioner Jewel Mullen to request a formal review and public hearing concerning the proposed closure of two clinics in East Haven and Branford by Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS).
The two senators who represent the communities impacted by these closures wrote to Commissioner Mullen asking the Office of Health Care Access (OHCA) to conduct a full Certificate of Need (CON) review, including public hearings, to carefully examine the impact these closures will have on access to care for patients in the affected communities.
“Given the virtual monopoly that YNHHS has over many health care services, it is incumbent upon the state to ensure that it maintains adequate access to affordable care. Therefore, we are asking that OHCA subject these service termination requests to a rigorous review that includes ample opportunity for public comment and input,” Fasano and Kennedy wrote.
“We are concerned that, having spent years buying physician practices and consolidating health care services in the greater New Haven area under the its umbrella, YNHHS now is choosing to deal with new burdens by terminating community services simply because it is not making as much money as it would like instead of making a decision based on maintaining access to care,” Fasano and Kennedy wrote.
They also questioned why YNHHS is choosing to offset the impact of the state budget by targeting certain communities for service reductions, while simultaneously expanding in other areas and working on a possible affiliation with Lawrence & Memorial Hospital.