Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • April 6, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Mystic Seaport Museum to close, layoff nearly 200 workers The Mystic Seaport Museum has closed and about 199 employees have been laid off due to a loss of business caused by the "unprecedented" COVID-19 pandemic. The museum, located at 75 Greenmanville Ave., in Mystic, said the layoffs "should be considered permanent" as it's unclear when it will reopen. CEO Keating says Kaman taking steps to 'proactively' hedge against coronavirus risks Kaman Corp. President and CEO Neal Keating is trying to take a proactive approach to battle the potential economic and health headwinds from the coronavirus. The Bloomfield-based helicopter and engineered-parts maker says that Keating is taking a voluntary 20% salary cut starting April 1, and that the company is tapping a $200-million credit line in response to the pandemic, which is causing major disruption in the aerospace industry. But unlike many other U.S. companies, Kaman isn't reducing headcount yet, or cutting other employees' pay. Instead, the two moves represent both proactive and symbolic gestures as Kaman, and the rest of the country, wait to see the full economic impact from the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus, Keating said. "Obviously, a lot of airplanes are parked. But I don't know if this will be a quick recovery as we had after 9/11, or whether it will be a slower recovery as we saw coming out of the 2008 financial crisis. We will be prepared to deal with either one," Keating said. Dillon says quiet Bradley Airport could benefit from $2T federal stimulus Congress' $2-trillion stimulus package could provide Bradley International Airport aid at a time when airlines and passengers are canceling flights amid fears of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus, Bradley's overseer says. During a recent board meeting for the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA), which oversees Bradley, CAA Executive Director Kevin Dillon touted an element of the legislation that provides $10 billion to airports, $7.4 billion of which has few strings attached. "They're not restricting the money for capital projects or operating expenses, it can be spent on anything that we lawfully have to spend money on here at the airport," Dillon said. Bradley has seen a significant dropoff in passenger traffic amid the COVID-19 crisis — as much as a 90% decrease on some days. CT extends sales, occupancy tax filing deadlines The state Department of Revenue Services has extended the filing and payment deadlines for hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and room occupancy taxes that were due March 31. The decision to extend the monthly payments deadline to May 31, follows an executive order signed by Gov. Ned Lamont that aims to provide relief for small businesses statewide amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Small businesses that qualify for the automatic extension include taxpayers that have $150,000 or less in annual sales tax liability. Taxpayers that have $150,000 or less in annual room occupancy tax also qualify. LATEST HEADLINES PHOTO | HBJ FILE COVID-19 to leave hospital budgets in disarray By Matt Pilon mpilon@hartfordbusiness.com C onnecticut's nearly 30 hos- pitals are collectively miss- ing out on as much as $400 million in monthly revenue, as the COVID-19 coronavirus drives up ex- penses and forces elective surgeries and other procedures to be post- poned in order to preserve clinical resources and space, according to the Connecticut Hospital Association. Individual hospitals like Bristol Hospital and UConn Health have recently detailed the revenue de- clines they could be facing, but the statewide number is the first public estimate CHA has released. CHA said the outbreak has forced hospitals to incur significant unan- ticipated expenditures of between $75 million and $100 million for sup- plies, equipment, staff training and outfitting of new medical space. "Faced with this extraordinary cir- cumstance, Connecticut's hospitals are laser focused on providing the best patient care possible and are do- ing everything in our power to fight COVID-19," CHA said in a statement. Congress' $2-trillion federal stimulus package contains $100 billion for hospitals, as well as other assistance that could help blunt some of the financial impacts on the healthcare system, but major chal- lenges remain. Cutting to the bone As the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to spread across Con- necticut, Bristol Health is losing out on millions of dollars in revenue and ramping up spending in crucial areas as it prepares for an expected surge in patients. The independent, one-hospital sys- tem has furloughed 33 non-clinical employees and temporarily reduced the hours of approximately 270 others, including clinical personnel, according to its CEO Kurt Barwis. "We are literally cutting to the bone," Barwis said. The reduction is needed because Bristol, like many other hospitals have done at the behest of federal regula- tors during the ongoing pandemic, has postponed or canceled numerous elec- tive procedures over the past month. As a result, the hospital's inpatient census has plummeted and procedure volumes have fallen by about half. That's expected to cost Bristol Health, which booked $197.5 million in patient revenue last year, upwards of $8 million per month, Barwis said. "Cashflow-wise, we're going to struggle," Barwis said. Barwis stressed that he will keep the workers he needs to deal with a wave of COVID-19 patients expected to hit within the next few weeks. "I don't want anyone to think I'm shedding staff I need during this crisis, I am not," Barwis said. Other hospitals have disclosed an- ticipated coronavirus-related financial hits, including UConn Health, which said it could miss out on $100 million in revenue this year due to a drop in procedure volume. Hospital overseers, including at Bristol and Yale New Haven Health, are drawing on lines of credit, and Yale has signaled that COVID-19 could affect the late summer construction timing of an $838-million neuroscience center at its St. Raphael campus. "At this time, YNHHS is focusing on its preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic," Yale said. "YNHHS will evaluate current and planned capital expenditures as appropriate." Surge and stimulus As Bristol Health works to deal with the unexpected dent in its fi- nances, one key question for Barwis is how much of the lost revenue his system might recover. Pre-pandemic, Bristol Health had been budgeting a $3.5-million loss for its fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, and Barwis said it's far too complicated to accurately update that guidance yet. "It's too hard to guess at our losses now," he said. The coming surge will bring more patient revenue into hospitals. Another major factor is the CARES Act, which Congress recently ap- proved. The $2-trillion stimulus pack- age contains $100 billion for hospitals as well as a double-digit increase in Medicare reimbursements for hospi- tals treating COVID-19 patients. Barwis isn't yet sure what his hos- pital might get in stimulus funding. "The relief bill looks phenomenal, but the devil is in the details," he said. On the back end of the surge, there will be a backlog of postponed surgeries and procedures. Surgeons are preparing to work extra hours when the time comes. "My surgeons are telling me the volume they are delaying they believe will stay," Barwis said. "Those cases aren't going to go away, they're going to get rescheduled." >> Latest Headlines continued Neal Keating is president and CEO of Kaman Corp.

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