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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 16, 2023 29 POWER 25 | HEALTH CARE Christopher M. O'Connor S ince taking over as CEO of the Yale New Haven Health system, Christopher O'Connor has been overseeing its expansion efforts. The system reported $6.1 billion in net revenue in fiscal year 2022, and it includes Yale New Haven Hospital, Bridgeport Hospital, Green- wich Hospital, Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, and West- erly Hospital in Rhode Island. O'Connor has been involved in the system's efforts to take over three hospitals currently run by Prospect Medical Holdings, including Water- bury, Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals. The plan is currently being consid- ered by state officials through the Office of Health Strategy's certificate of need process, which evaluates the impact of hospital consolidation. O'Connor has submitted testimony in favor of the deal, asserting that the health system would help revitalize the financially troubled hospitals. O'Connor also recently announced Yale New Haven Health's purchase of Connecticut-based PhysicianOne Urgent Care, which has 27 locations, including six in Massachusetts and three in New York. O'Connor has a lengthy background in health care. Before becoming CEO with the health system, he had several key roles, such as president, executive vice president and chief operating officer. O'Connor previ- ously was president and CEO of the Hospital of St. Raphael. Yale New Haven Hospital acquired the Hospital of St. Raphael in 2012 to form one New Haven- based hospital with two campuses. O'Connor helped bring the two hospitals together. He also played key roles in the affiliation with Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in 2016, and Bridgeport Hospital's acquisition of Milford Hospital in 2019. In August 2022, Yale New Haven Hospital broke ground on an $838 million, 505,000-square-foot project that includes building a new neurosciences center on the St. Raphael campus. When he took over the job, O'Connor said his priorities would be to improve patient care, ensure the system's financial stability, attract talent, and build upon partnerships with the Yale School of Medicine and Yale University. O'Connor currently leads an organization with more than 29,000 employees. He's also had to deal with financial issues. About a year ago, Yale New Haven Health cut 155 manage- ment-level positions that resulted in 72 layoffs as the health system reported a $234 million operating loss in fiscal 2022. Montez Carter M ontez Carter last year took over as president and CEO of Trinity Health Of New England, the state's third-largest health system that has showcased several recent expansion projects. Trinity Health's Connecticut port- folio includes St. Francis and Mount Sinai Rehabilitation hospitals in Hart- ford; St. Mary's Hospital in Waterbury; and Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs. Trinity Health recently unveiled a $6 million expansion and renovation of Johnson Memorial's Karen Davis Krzynowek Cancer Center in Enfield. It also debuted this past summer a new Bloomfield medical facility, at 852 Cottage Grove Road, with both urgent and outpatient care centers. In April, Carter announced a unique deal, in which Trinity Health sold some of its medical debt to national nonprofit RIP Medical Debt, which erased $32.76 million worth of liabili- ties for over 22,000 patients. Trinity Health's Connecticut opera- tions reported $1.8 billion in operating revenue in fiscal 2022, according to financial data from the Office of Health Strategy. Carter told the Hartford Business Journal in late 2022 that one of his top priorities is for Trinity Health Of New England to continue to evolve to meet the community's needs. "That can happen in different ways," Carter said. "Some of that could be through expansion. Some of that can be through acquisitions. Some of that could be through partnerships with other existing providers. So, I think that all of those options are available to us." Carter has worked for Michi- gan-based parent company Trinity Health for more than a decade. Before arriving in Connecticut, he was president and CEO of St. Mary's Health Care System in Georgia. Carter began his career as a pharmacist. He was chosen as Trinity Health Of New England's president and CEO following a national search that included about 50 internal and external candidates. Carter, a sports fan and collector of vintage sports memorabilia, is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and has served on several boards, including the American Hospital Association. He received his MBA from the University of Alabama and his doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Mississippi.