Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 10, 2025 13 860.482.7613 | BorghesiBuilding.com 2155 East Main Street, Torrington, Connecticut 06790 Since 1942, the Borghesi specialty has been creating "Building Ideas That Work". PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: AMERICAN PAVEMENT SPECIALISTS Check out our new website! © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing ™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. Building Ideas That Work... Building Ideas That Work... Whether you are a contractor, manufacturer or in distribution, Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc. will guide you to provide the best solution for your facility. the process. He says last year's bill wasn't just "reform, it was a real overhaul." And he believes that is what ultimately caused it to fail. "I think it tried to give everyone something to be excited about, and in the process, gave everyone something to dislike," Jackson said. "And ulti- mately, that was not a winning recipe." The agency's proposed bill this year includes ways to expedite the process, particularly for certificate of need applications that involve the acquisition of technology, like MRI machines and CT scanners. OHS is proposing a streamlined process that would take just 30 days. Jackson said there are other categories of service that could be done via an expedited review, such as applications to create new behavioral health services. He said some areas have a "glut" of such services, while others are underserved. If an applicant can show they would provide an unmet need in an under- served area, "your application is going to be reviewed on an expedited time- line," he said. Other issues There are other oversight issues critics want addressed besides the amount of time a CON application takes. In 2018, Prospect Medical took out a $1.1 billion loan, using part of it to pay its executives and share- holders a $457 million dividend, CBS News reported. To repay the loan, Prospect signed a sale-leaseback agreement, selling the land and buildings from its hospitals in Connecticut, California and Pennsylvania to Medical Proper- ties Trust (MPT) for $1.4 billion, then leasing the property back from the trust. The deal was a disaster for the already financially strapped hospitals, which now had to pay rent. Last month, Lamont proposed a bill to strengthen state oversight of major mergers, acquisitions and asset trans- fers in the healthcare sector. Gifford was at his side to support the idea. "We have people saying, 'How did the state allow that to occur?'" Gifford said. "The state did not have an opportunity to review that transac- tion. We weren't notified." That's because there is no state law mandating it. Lamont's bill would change that, requiring entities doing those types of transactions to notify the Attorney General's office. Finding a way to 'yes' Leaders in both chambers have set their legislative priorities for the current session, but it remains unclear whether certificate of need reform will pass. Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey (D-Fairfield), the House co-chair of the Public Health Committee, said the committee will pursue CON legislation this year, though her focus seemed more on the governor's proposal than reforming the application process. Paul Kidwell, the Connecticut Hospital Association's senior vice president for policy, said there are other key healthcare issues beyond CON reform that interest his organization and members. He said CHA has been "actively engaged" with OHS for the past four years to determine the best way to benchmark the growth of costs in the healthcare system. He also noted that the historic, seven-year settlement reached between Lamont and state hospi- tals in 2019 to end a dispute around the hospital tax expires in June 2026. "Right now is the time to start to talk about what this looks like, post-settlement," Kidwell said. Of course, CHA would like to see reforms of the CON process as well, he said. "From the CHA side, we've shown over the years that we want to find a way to 'yes,'" Kidwell said. "… Those are difficult conversations, but I think there's certainly a will- ingness to find common ground." Paul Kidwell Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey MEDIAN NUMBER OF DAYS IT TAKES OFFICE OF HEALTH STRATEGY TO TAKE A FINAL ACTION ON A CERTIFICATE OF NEED APPLICATION Source: Office of Health Strategy NO. OF DAYS 500 400 300 200 100 2021 2022 2023 2024

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