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www.HartfordBusiness.com April 13, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 5 REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK 280 Trumbull Street - Hartford, Connecticut 06103 - www.whcpa.com for Healthcare hittlesey & Hadley accountants are different. We care about our clients, not just their numbers. Our insight and practical advice is original and has been etched into the region's business landscape for more than 50 years. Who wants ordinary out- comes? Our visionary approach to auditing, tax planning, business and technology consulting renders innovative outtcomes that will change the way you do business. Put your trust in advisors with real solutions. Let our knowledge create your next masterpiece. W Real Solutions Real Advisors It's An Art CT hospitals see improved margins as funding cuts loom Connecticut hos- pitals fared much better financially in 2014, despite facing higher taxes and continued pressures from federal health- care reform. The state's 29 acute care providers recorded a collective operating margin of 4.42 percent, up from 3.15 percent a year ear- lier. The better results were largely driven by a $200 million boost in patient revenues, which totaled $9.9 bil- lion. Hospital expens- es stayed flat at $9.9 billion. Norwich's Back- us Hospital was Connecticut's best per- forming care provider last year, recording a 15.97 percent operating margin, followed by Greenwich (9.09 percent), Norwalk (8.27 percent), MidState (8.2 percent), and St. Mary's (8 percent) hospitals. Only five Connecticut hospitals lost money in fiscal 2014. Milford Hospital performed the worst with a -11.13 percent margin. Windham, New Milford, Connecticut Children's, and John Dempsey hospitals also lost money last year. A healthy hospital margin is typically between 3-5 percent. The improved financial results come at a time of major debate over hospital fund- ing. Under his two-year budget plan, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has proposed funding cuts and higher taxes that could cost hos- pitals more than $750 million in annual revenue, according to the Connecticut Hospital Association, which is now wag- ing a major lobbying campaign against the proposal. The budget includes a $216 million reduction in uncompensated care, which reimburses hospitals for treating unin- sured and underinsured patients, and a $510 million hospital tax. Hospital executives have warned that the budget plan will lead to diminished services and layoffs. Some smaller community hospi- tals have even said the cuts could force them to eventually close. — Greg Bordonaro CT Hospital Financial Performance Operating Operating Hospital Gain/Loss Margin Manchester $4,235,504 2.26% Rockville $2,760,693 3.70% Hartford $36,285,186 3.37% Hospital of Central CT $14,783,796 3.85% MidState $18,936,576 8.20% Bristol $1,048,848 0.73% Middlesex $20,707,000 5.43% St. Francis $14,421,000 2.11% Statewide Total $468,961,830 4.42% S O U R C E : O F F I C E O F H E A L T H C A R E A C C E S S PDS has been meeting the needs of the construction industry since 1965. Our dedicated team of design and construction professionals welcomes the challenge of serving its past and future customers on their most demanding projects. 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com PDS EnginEEring & COnsTRuCTiOn, inC. Design BuilDeRs • geneRal COnTRaCTORs • COnsTRuCTiOn ManageRs spotlight on: Commercial Litchfield Insurance Group | Avon, CT PDS served in the role as General Contractor for a two story 4,000 square foot interior renovation of new office space. The renovation was a full gut of the existing facility consisting of new carpeting, wood flooring, ceilings, walls, millwork, doors, painting, toilet accessories, sprinkler, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical. This project was completed within a fast track two month span and finished within budget. project size: 4,000 sF Tribe supporters see Malloy as peacemaker The legal dustup between Connecticut's banking department and an Oklahoma tribe pressing to be allowed to issue ultra-high- interest "payday'' loans to needy residents has spilled into the governor's office. Billboards have sprouted — one visible off I-91 northbound approaching downtown — urging Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to intervene on behalf of the Otoe-Missouria tribe. The Institute for Liberty, a nonpartisan Washington D.C. advocacy group against government incursion on individual civil rights, claims it paid for both billboards and plans more as part of its national campaign to get Malloy to act. "We are engaged in this fight because we believe this is an illegal abuse of power by CT state banking regulators and we have engaged with the Governor because he is the one person who can stand with the tribes and stop this overnight,'' institute President Andrew Langer said last week via email. "The buck stops with him. He has a history of supporting Indian country and we are asking him to do so again now,'' Langer wrote. The banking department twice has ruled in administrative proceedings, first late last year and again at the start of this one, that the tribe and their two payday lenders – Great Plains Lending LLC and Clear Creek Lend- ing – charge usurious interest banned under Connecticut consumer law. The banking department also has levied $1.5 million in penalties against the tribe and their Chair- man John R. Shotton. The tribe is fighting back with an appeal pending in Connecticut state court, and a separate suit in Oklahoma federal court, claiming the state's payday-lender ban vio- lates the tribe's civil rights. Malloy's spokesman says the governor doesn't comment on pending litigation. The banking department says it respects the rights of the tribe and its chairman, but noted its purpose in this matter is clear. "Our focus has always been directed at protecting our borrowers,'' Banking Department General Counsel Bruce Adams said via email. — Gregory Seay One of the ads appearing on Connecticut billboards.