Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • November 30, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 19 Exit your business on your terms As you plan and put strategies in place for a more immediate sale, you'll want to monetize all the hard work you've put into your business. We'll partner with you to assist with key questions and considerations including: – What are your transition options? – How will you get the optimal valuation? – What's your strategy for securing your legacy? A conversation will help bring you clarity. Proceed with passion Before > During > A er > You sell your business / m o c . s b u m w i s a f / m a e t P F C , i s a F . F s e m a J ® A P E C , t n e m e g a n a M h t l a e W - t n e d i s e r P e c i V r o i n e S P F C , i s a F . J d i v a D ® A P E C , t n e m e g a n a M h t l a e W - t n e d i s e r P e c i V t n e m e g a n a M h t l a e W i s a F . c n I s e c i v r e S l a i c n a n i F S B U t e e r t S e t a t S e n O 0 0 6 1 e t i u S d r o f t r a H , T C 2 0 1 3 - 3 0 1 6 0 6 0 0 8 - 5 7 2 - 0 6 8 t u o b a s u o t k a e p S . s e c i v r e S n o i t i s n a r T s s e n i s u B S B U l a i r e t a m n i r e f f i d d n a t c n i t s i d d n a e t a r a p e s e r a h c i h w s e c i v r e s e g a r e k o r b d n a y r o s i v d a t n e m t s e v n i h t o b r e f f o e w , s t n e i l c o t s e c i v r e s t n e m e g a n a m h t l a e w g n i d i v o r p n I t i s i v , n r e v o g t a h t s t c a r t n o c d n a s w a l t n e r e f f i d e h t g n i d u l c n i , n o i t a m r o f n i r o F . s y a w . s u h t i w g n i k r o w / m o c . s b u . c n I s d r a d n a t S f o d r a o B r e n n a l P l a i c n a n i F d e fi i t r e C P F C s k r a m n o i t a c fi i t r e c e h t s n w o ® R E N N A L P L A I C N A N I F D E I F I T R E C d n a ™ . S . U e h t n i d e r e t s i g e r n u d n a d e r e t s i g e r e h t g n o m a e r a S B U d n a l o b m y s y e k e h T . 0 2 0 2 S B U © . C P I S / A R N I F r e b m e M . G A S B U f o y r a i d i s b u s a s i . c n I s e c i v r e S l a i c n a n i F S B U . d e v r e s e r s t h g i r l l A . S B U f o s k r a m e d a r t 0 A 1 3 2 0 B 1 - S B U - D 1 2 0 2 / 8 2 / 2 0 : . p x E 4 1 8 0 0 0 2 S I mouth has had to steer ECHN not only through the difficulties of providing care during the pandemic but also the challenges of trying to improve a troubled hospital system. The state Department of Public Health has scrutinized ECHN's Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals, as well as Waterbury Hospital, over quality concerns since shortly after California-based for-profit Prospect Medical Holdings pur- chased all three care providers in 2016. (Weymouth only oversees the ECHN hospitals. Waterbury Hospital has its own CEO, Lester Schindel). That oversight was ex- tended in late 2019, continuing a period of scrutiny that regulators said was among the longest the state had seen. Weymouth said she expects the oversight to be dropped next year due to ongoing work with the state to improve care quality. "We've moved ahead with that," she said. "We're anticipating in 2021 we'll be able to move on and be all set to move forward." Weymouth cited one metric of improving quality: Manches- ter Memorial has gone 623 days without a central line bloodstream infection, a common measure of hospital performance. Meanwhile, two of Prospect's hospitals, Manchester Memorial and Waterbury Hospital, lost more than 2% of their Medicare reim- bursements this year as penalties for having high rates of readmit- ted patients. Data from the Cen- ters for Medicare and Medicaid Services ranked the two among the three worst in the state for penalties. Weymouth said ECHN has formed a multidisciplinary team to monitor patients at risk for readmission on a daily basis. Pros- pect's 17 hospitals nationwide have also put together a regional task force to reduce readmissions. Recent controversy has also arisen over Prospect's decision to move many of Rockville Gen- eral Hospital's (RGH) services in Vernon to Manchester Memorial. Members of the AFT Connecticut union announced on Nov. 18, that they were circulating a petition to restore services to RGH. Investing in people For Weymouth, the best way to cope with the system's challenges is to invest in its people, with new training programs launched on leadership and improving the pa- tient experience. On the hardware side, ECHN has bought a new MRI scanner and three new 3D mam- mography machines. More than nine projects are in the works to improve facilities and care, she added, while demurring on the details. Although Prospect is a for-profit company, Weymouth said her pri- mary focus continues to be on the mission of providing quality care for local residents. "I've always believed in the value that a community hospital gives back to its community, ... also the value of the access to health care, to quality local health care," Wey- mouth said. "We play a contribut- ing role in adding value to the community." Business roots Weymouth came to ECHN in Sept. 2019, after a career in health care, including most recently five years leading the UMass Memorial Health Alliance-Clinton Hospital in Massachusetts. Her first career in banking couldn't compete with the re- wards of working in health care, Weymouth said. "At the bank I was able to make wealthy people wealthier, and in health care I was actually able to be part of a team that was saving people's lives. There is no replace- ment for that," she said. Weymouth said she was drawn to the ECHN role because of the chance to work with a larger hos- pital system. Weymouth's business training will certainly serve her well as the hospital system faces the finan- cial impact of COVID-19, on top of earlier financial challenges at its Connecticut hospitals. In fiscal year 2019 — prior to the pandemic — both Rockville General and Manchester Memo- rial hospitals lost money, while Prospect's overall Connecticut operations, including Waterbury Hospital, reported an $8.7-million operating loss, according to the Office of Health Strategy. And earlier this year the Con- necticut Hospital Association projected the state's hospitals would collectively lose as much as $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2020, even with hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid. "I think any organization that complied with the regulations and requests from the state, such as stopping elective surgery, certain- ly had their core business impact- ed," Weymouth said, adding she hoped more state aid would help offset the system's losses. You can count on us! Our flexible lending solutions and experienced team may be just what your business needs. Visit chelseagroton.com/growthatbusiness or call 860-448-4203

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