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Politics & Government

UConn Health Center To Be Resuscitated, Bioscience Research Corridor To Be Created

Medical, Dental Schools And Bioscience Research Benefit From Plan

Questions linger weeks after legislators approved a massive plan to remake the University of Connecticut Health Center

In the last days of the 2011 legislative session lawmakers approved Bioscience Connecticut, an $854 million plan to expand UConn’s medical and dental schools, construct a new 100-bed in-patient tower on the Farmington campus’ John Dempsey hospital, and inject millions of dollars into bioscience research and development. But exactly how this vision will become reality and how the health center will end its troubled financial history, particularly at a time when the state’s coffers aren’t flush with cash, remains a puzzle. 

“Now oddly these kinds of things are front and center. Whether it’s the bus way, light rail, or this thing, one could argue those scarce funds could be applied elsewhere,” said state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg a Democrat representing Westport in the 136th House District. 

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Steinberg ultimately voted for the deal. 

State Sen. Andrew Maynard, a Democrat who represents Groton and Stonington in the 18th Senate District, didn’t waver about going forward with the investment.

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“The question is not whether or not we should make investments but where,” said Maynard.

In the end, the promise of developing a bioscience research corridor in the manner of Cambridge, Mass. or Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, is what swayed legislators, be they Democratic or Republican. 

“It’s an opportunity for Connecticut to distinguish itself in research,” Steinberg said. “It will create a research corridor and can identify where Connecticut can be a leader.”

State Rep. James Crawford, a Democrat representing Clinton in the 35th House District, said that the state can take advantage of the low cost of construction and the low bonding rates, which will provide jobs now and lay a foundation for future opportunities. 

"I understand the hesitation on the part of folks who say we can't afford it," Crawford said. But, "we can't afford not to, this is exactly the kind of jobs-creating program that is so critical to reviving the economy." 

Thomas Q. Callahan UConn Health Center’s Chief of Staff the plan will allow the state to compete regionally, nationally, and globally. It will help create a broad environment for innovation, discovery and commercial application of those ideas. 

Yet, there appears to be no specific benchmarks to help transition the plan from concept to reality. For example, there is no timeline attracting needed venture capital for start-up companies. 

“Bioscience Connecticut doesn’t address all those issues,” Callahan said. “It takes care of the front end. It’s a very important step the state is taking.” 

In other words, the plan calls for ensuring there is adequate research and laboratory space, and it provides an environment for potential commercialization of such research.

Crawford supported the plan because it readies the state for what he called the next industrial revolution, which, he said, will be one of ideas and innovation rather than the manufacturing and production jobs Connecticut relied on in the past. 

"We need to be keyed in on the fact that we are now going to start producing an intellectual product rather than a tangible product," he said. "Something that can be used in the creation and invention of other things."  

Crawford said Connecticut could become an "engine of ideas and opportunities" that will create "offshoots" of industry in the state or in the global economy.

“The governor made clear this was not the end of bioscience, that going forward, bioscience-based economy will be a strong component going forward,” Callahan said. 

Those supporting the deal said it will create thousands jobs in a state with a 9.1 percent unemployment rate. They argue it will position Connecticut as a leader in bioscience research. And, they said it would put the health center on sound financial footing.

Those opposing the deal said it would harm competing hospitals. They question the cost of the program.  And, they question the center’s ability to run efficiently. 

“I voted against it because it’s a major increase in our bonding,” said state Rep. John Hetherington a Republican representing New Canaan in the 125th House District.” 

The deal will add $254 million in bonding to the $362 million in bonding the legislature approved last year. Private donations are expected to fill in the remaining $203 million.

However, UConn’s Callahan said the deal doesn’t impact this biennium’s budget; there is no new debt service and no operating costs. Rather Bioscience Connecticut builds on a plan begun during the last legislative session. 

Another question surrounds the numbers. Using numbers crunched from the University of Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, Malloy said the deal would create 3,000 new construction jobs that will last during the center’s six-year construction. 

“It’s all speculative,” Hetherington said. “It’s a jobs program. One legislator explained it as a vision. It’s a hallucination. I thought the whole thing was poorly explained and I didn’t want to put the state on the hook for that amount.” 

Moreover, the health center deal comes just as hospitals statewide face a newly imposed provider tax.

“The hospital tax contributes to the State’s revenue base and therefore generally contributes to funding any state funded initiatives,” said Scott Orstad, Stamford Hospital’s Corporate Communications Manager.

Also gnawing at some legislators is whether expanding the 40-year-old Dempsey Hospital is necessary.

“Off the top of my head, I can count six hospitals within fifteen minutes of UConn. I have said many times in the past that I don’t even think we need the hospital at all,” said state Rep. Jason Perillo, a Republican representing Shelton in the 113th House District. “The cost of running it is higher than other hospitals in the state because the employees are state workers and paying for their benefit packages typically requires that the state bail them out to cover their losses most years.” 

The General Assembly bailed out the health center four times since 2000. Malloy asserts the health center would break even by 2018; but skeptics remain, even among the supporters. 

These legislators said the deal provides zero assurances UConn’s inefficiencies will end.

“The state tends to throw money at it whenever it gets in trouble. It has a reputation for inefficiency,” Steinberg said. “This is the last shot UConn gets.”

State Sen. Toni Boucher, a Republican representing Bethel, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport, and Wilton in the 26th Senate District, said she too wonders how UConn Health Center will regain its footing. 

Still Boucher voted for the plan calling the bioscience piece of it “one of the few areas where I see money well spent. It’s a better investment of our dollars than some things.” 

“The hospital has been needing (state funding) because it's too small and has not been able to be anywhere near self-sufficient,” said Maynard. “It has not kept apace with modern university medical centers, so as a center of learning in one of the top medical schools in the country, we were beginning to lag.” 

Maynard said if the state didn’t invest in the health center, the school would see a drop in talented professors and would have difficulty attracting students. 

However, the health center’s contract with the state stipulates it must care for the state prison population and a large percentage of Medicaid patients. That means the hospital is financially set up to fail, said some.

“It’s a true public service facility,” said state Rep. Bill Wadsworth a Republican representing Farmington in the 21st House District. “They have a high percentage of uninsured patients. We owe public health to our residents.”

While the Connecticut Hospital Association won’t discuss details, it said it was pleased Malloy acknowledged the healthcare industry’s contributions to the state’s economy.

“CHA has been supportive of the Governor’s goal of jobs, economic growth, and innovation—most particularly his objectives of increasing access to high quality healthcare and graduating and retaining more physicians and dentists to help address our forecasted workforce shortage,” said Kim Hostetler, CHA’s Vice President for Communications.

The plan would reportedly add 100 students to the medical school, 48 students to the dental school, and about 50 bioscience researchers. That’s key for Connecticut to grow and keep a crop of doctors said some legislators.

“For several years, the Connecticut State Medical Society has been advocating for student loan forgiveness and forbearance programs a means of beginning to address our state’s physician workforce shortage and increasing Connecticut patients’ access to quality medical care,” said Matthew C. Katz, Executive Vice President for the Connecticut State Medical Society.  “Too few of the physicians in training from our medical schools stay in Connecticut; these programs go a long way to helping reduce the burden of debt while helping them establish practice and offsetting the higher-than-average cost of living.” 

Yet, the bill contained no such language regarding student loan forgiveness and forbearance. Callahan said that’s because it will likely be addressed during the next biennium.

Crawford compared the state's investment in the Bioscience Connecticut plan and the UConn Health Center expansion to priming a well water pump.

"When they go dry the only way to get a lot of water is to pour a little in," he said. "Essentially that's what's happening to the economy."

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