To keep our UConn Health community informed of important information relating to our organization, I am happy to inform you that UConn Health has filed a Certificate of Need (CON) application with the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) seeking an additional 23 licensed beds at John Dempsey Hospital. The granting of additional licensed beds is regulated by the CON process outlined in Connecticut law, and submission of this application is only the first step, though it is an important one.
Why John Dempsey Hospital needs additional licensed beds is well known to most of you. It begins with the doubling of Emergency Department volumes over the past three years, combined with incredible growth in UConn Medical Group (UMG) patient visits. The number of patients who choose to seek care with us has grown exponentially in recent years and has created a situation where our hospital capacity is regularly full. Those patients choose UConn Health, and come back, because of the incredible service and award-winning outcomes that you all provide. Since 2014, clinical encounters and wRVUs have grown by 56% and 79%, respectively, and net patient revenue has grown by 141%. We were just recognized as the top 10% in the region for our medical excellence and patient safety by CareChex, adding to our already impressive number of awards and recognitions including America’s Best In-State Hospitals (Newsweek 2024), Leapfrog A Rating for Patient Safety (6th “A” in a row), World’s Best Hospitals (Newsweek 2022 and 2023), and Outstanding Patient Experience Award (Healthgrades 2023).
What is truly impressive is that, while our volumes have grown, our service and quality have not suffered. This is a direct reflection of every part of UConn Health and the commitment we all have to put the patients, and their care, first. Every part of this organization makes this possible and should share in the pride of knowing patients are choosing us, and staying with us, in record numbers and creating a need for us to seek more licensed beds from the state.
Interwoven with our clinical successes, you should also know that our external research grants have grown by 60% since 2017, resulting in incredible innovations, being first in the nation to test new therapies, and inventing new treatments that can be applied from bench to the bedside. The integral relationships among our outstanding research and clinical faculty and staff enables the scientific advances that we make to benefit and be applied to our patients, further progressing all. Our medical and dental schools are the leading sources of current and future physicians, surgeons, and dentists for the State of Connecticut. The schools’ 30% growth in class sizes depends increasingly on the ever-larger clinical volume, pointing again to the inter-connectedness of our tripartite public missions – education, research, and clinical care.
We look forward to sharing more information about the CON process with you as it progresses, including where your voice can be heard. Today, please accept my sincere thanks to all of you for delivering the high quality of care and service that you do, making us the fastest growing hospital in the state.
UConn Health is a special place because of you!
Thank you,
Bruce T. Liang, MD
Interim Chief Executive Officer | UConn Health
Dean | UConn School of Medicine
CEO@uchc.edu
