A proposed partnership between Hartford Healthcare and the Backus Corporation received state approval Wednesday.
William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich will join the Hartford HealthCare network of hospitals and health facilities now that a partnership agreement has received the state’s blessing, the health network announced Wednesday.
The state Office of Health Care Access has approved a certificate of need to form the partnership between Backus Corp., parent company of the hospital, and Hartford HealthCare, effective Aug. 1, the network said.
Hartford HealthCare already comprises Hartford Hospital, three other hospitals and a number of other health facilities in Connecticut.
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With the new partnership, Hartford HealthCare will create the Hartford HealthCare East Region, which will include Backus Hospital and Windham Hospital in Willimantic, already part of the network. Both hospitals will keep their names and medical staffs. Backus has 213 beds; Windham as 130.
David Whitehead, president and CEO of Backus, will become CEO of the Hartford HealthCare East Region. Stephen Larcen, CEO of Windham Hospital, will become the new senior vice president of Hartford HealthCare’s Behavioral Health Network.
Elliot Joseph, president and CEO of Hartford HealthCare, said the affiliation will allow for “a higher level of coordinated care for patients in this important region” and give patients in eastern Connecticut greater access to health care.
Plans for the affiliation were announced in February 2012. At that time, Joseph said the current climate of health care requires partnerships among independent hospitals because of the high demand for cutting-edge technology and expensive procedures such as robotic surgeries.
Hospital partnerships have become increasingly common in recent years in the state and the nation. In 2011, there were 86 nationwide, the most in more than a decade.
Officials for the two health care organizations said that the affiliation will mean that Backus will gain new resources, including funding for a trauma center, a permanent station for Life Star helicopter, more neonatal specialists, a more comprehensive cancer services, and the creation of a “preventive medicine institute.”
Besides Hartford Hospital, which has 867 beds, the network of Hartford HealthCare includes the Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain and Southington, MidState Medical Center in Meriden, and Windham Hospital.
Backus Health System includes Backus Hospital and health care facilities in Ledyard, Plainfield, Montville and Colchester.
Date: July 24, 2013