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22 n e w h a v e n B I Z | J a n u a r y 2 0 2 2 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m F O C U S : H e a l t h C a r e don't have to travel to get it. We started a transaortic valve replacement program just two or three months ago, which has allowed patients to get their care right here in the community and get an aortic, a heart valve replacement, pretty amazing stuff. You said you wanted to increase services — what type? One of my biggest focuses is cardiac ablation. And that is basically going in and eliminating abnormal heart rhythms using a special catheter that we can bring into the heart. You need a team of physicians and providers and nurses to do that. We are slowly evolving into that area as a new service here. Any new technology you would like to add? is cardiac ablation would bring some new machinery and technology with it. We are also looking to expand our neurosurgical capabilities to be more comprehensive. at would require us to bring in special cameras that can take very good pictures, and microscopes, to help support that service. We have acquired a second da Vinci system, (which allows surgeons to perform robotic-assisted procedures). We are going to continue to build on those areas that are a need for the community. What impact has COVID had on the health network? COVID has had an incredibly challenging impact on our health network. We saw a significant drop in our patient volume. We had to cancel surgeries at one point. We had to use the OR for an ICU overflow area for a while to make sure we had all the resources. All of that obviously has a significant financial impact on any organization. Like any other business, you need the volume to get through your doors to be able to keep the doors open. We have a very strong parent company that was able to support us and ensure we could maintain and really minimize any staff cutting or anything like that during COVID. How is the health system doing financially overall? Overall the health system is doing well, and we obviously always want to do better. One of the things I want to try to improve is making sure we can continue to provide all the services in an effective way. One of the challenges we have had is a staffing shortage. We have brought in external resources, travelers (who travel for temporary assignments) and so forth, and those are very costly. I would rather hire someone who is committed to this organization and stays. How has it been for Waterbury Hospital since its acquisition and change to a for-profit model? We are only one of a few hospitals in the state of Connecticut that is for- profit. [Since being acquired by Prospect Medical Holdings in 2016] it has been an incredibly good story for the organization. We have been able to introduce the capital that is needed to maintain the organization. ere was a commitment to about a $50 million capital investment, and that has been done. Financially, we have been able to turn around the organization. e organization was in a lot of financial distress. What Prospect does well is they know how to organize a healthcare system in a way everything is running very efficiently. And our quality of care has improved. You mentioned how, like many hospitals, people postponed care due to the pandemic. Has that trend reversed now? People have come back and they are seeking their care. We are almost back to where we were pre-COVID, not quite, but very close. Have you been able to attract enough talent? We have open positions, a lot of nursing openings. at is one area we continue to recruit, and I want to recruit more. Do you foresee any future facility expansion? If there is one area we have put some attention to it is the emergency department — expanding that. at is still in the planning phase. Last August, your health network announced it was requiring all healthcare workers and staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19. What was the final compliance rate? If you count everybody who is eligible to be vaccinated, before that mandate, we were at about 86 percent. Folks were really engaged in getting vaccinated. I'm guessing we are north of 90 percent now. We did allow for both religious and health exemptions like everybody else. No one lost their job. n Continued from page 21 Nursing homes anticipate growth as pandemic impact eases By Liese Klein T he phone never stopped ringing when Frank Rende was being interviewed — calls just kept coming in. Rende, community sales counselor for the Chatham Place building at Mary Wade Home, said at least some of those calls were from seniors and family members look- ing for units at the brand-new assisted living and memory care facility in New Haven. Chatham Place opened for occupancy in late December at 138 Clinton Ave., in Fair Haven, across from Mary Wade's historic location. "ere's a lot of inquiries and in- terest," Rende said. "ere are a lot of people out there in the community who need assistance, who are isolated and need care because they can't navigate their homes. …ere's definitely a need." More than a dozen deposits had been put down weeks before the facility was due to open and Rende and other Mary Wade executives said they anticipate Chatham Place will soon reach full occupancy. "We do think there's pent-up de- mand right now because of the last two years of isolation at home [due to COVID-19]," said David Hunter, president and CEO of Mary Wade and a 40-year veteran employee. "As fami- lies are starting to come back to work, PHOTO | LIESE KLEIN (From left) Executive Director Mike O'Brien, Community Sales Counselor Frank Rende, President and CEO David Hunter and Marketing Manager Kara Hunter at Mary Wade Home's new Chatham Place facility, which has an additional 64 assisted living apartments and 20 memory-care units.

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