Hartford Business Journal

16 Hartford Business Journal • September 11, 2017 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Reporter's Notebook Matt Pillon | mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com Health Care/Bioscience, Startups & Entrepreneurs, Government/Law and Energy HEALTH CARE CT Children's looks ahead after rejecting Yale merger D espite financial pressures from a consolidating healthcare market and uncertain government fund- ing, Connecticut Children's Medi- cal Center is determined to remain indepen- dent, its leader says. Connecticut Children's CEO Jim Shmer- ling disclosed in a recent interview that CCMC's board of directors earlier this year rejected a proposed merger with Yale New Haven Health that would have created the U.S.' eighth-largest children's hospital. The problem for CCMC's board, Shmer- ling said, was that the newly created hospi- tal would have been a Yale affiliate, meaning Connecticut Children's would have lost its independent governance. "There was a strong belief that [CCMC] should remain independent and self-gov- erning," Shmerling said. Cynthia Sparer, executive director of Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, confirmed that the merger talks had been tabled in January and that governance structure had been a main sticking point. "While certainly we were disappointed we didn't achieve a goal we set out to achieve, that doesn't prevent us from continuing to work together and also not ruling out what might happen in the future," Sparer said. The two sides announced they were talking about a possible partnership last year. CCMC and Yale, which operate a joint cardiac program together and collaborate on other services, held several unsuccessful rounds of affiliation talks in the past. The most recent deal talks fell apart in January. "I think our respective boards agree that this is the great concept, it's the right thing to do," Shmerling said. "Until we can develop a governance structure we can agree on, we're at an impasse." Now, Shmerling is on the hunt for other hospital partners and he said he prefers as many as possible. CCMC already has varying arrangements with Hartford HealthCare, UConn, St. Mary's Hospital and Baystate Medical Center. Shmerling said he doesn't want to be tied to working exclusively with any one system. "We're trying to be Switzerland and partner with anyone who is caring for children," he said. He said there are many hospitals that want to outsource pediatrics or beef up their own departments, and it's becoming an increas- ingly competitive space, with CCMC finding itself competing for contracts against hospi- tals like Yale and Boston Children's. Shmerling said he's met with most or all of the area players, and his message has been: "We want to partner and be your pedi- atric provider." His search comes amid financial pres- sure. CCMC ran $17.1 million deficits in both 2013 and 2014. Its had surpluses the last two years, but there is much funding uncer- tainty with the state budget. Shmerling said CCMC is being conservative and preparing for a state funding cut. STARTUPS & ENTREPRENEURS CT VC funding flat during first half of 2017 C onnecticut companies announced $94.6 million in venture capital deals during the first half of this year, on par with deal totals in the same period last year, according to the latest MoneyTree Report from PwC and CB Insights. Deal activity, however, slowed consider- ably in the second quarter with only three deals worth $8.7 million, the worst second quarter on record since 2009. The biggest deal of the quarter ended June 30 was New Haven biotech Cybrexa Therapeutics, which landed $6 million from investors, including Connecticut Innovations. The weak second quarter followed the state's strongest first quarter since 2009 — with 12 deals totaling $85.9 million. The largest second-quarter deals included Norwalk's Owlstone Medical ($16.5 million) and South Windsor's Oxford Performance Materials ($10 million). Among New England states, Connecticut lags behind only Massachusetts, which re- corded $3.22 billion in venture deals during the first half of the year. Across the country, there were 1,152 deals totaling $18.36 billion in investment during the second quarter. That was 108 more deals than in the same quarter a year ago, but down from $20.1 billion in total value. Nationally, deal values are also trending behind for the first half of the year totaling $32.81 billion, down from $36.04 billion in the first half of 2016. CT VC deals through first six months of the year Connecticut Children's CEO Jim Shmerling says his hospital is a potential target for acquirers, but at least for now, CCMC wants to remain independent. PHOTO | HBJ FILE DATA CENTER Most Common Workplace Diseases/Illnesses in CT The number of workplace injuries and illnesses in Connecticut fell by 9 percent in 2015, the latest data available, to 17.1 illnesses per 10,000 workers — a rate 5 percent higher than the national average, according to a report by UConn Health. Here are the most popular reported workplace illnesses/diseases in the state: Type of Disease Number of Cases Musculoskeletal 3,403 Infectious 2,262 Respiratory & poisonings 511 Skin 310 Hearing loss 99 Source: UConn Health 0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $300 $350 $400 In millions of dollars 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 $259 $61 $114 $75 $111 $71 $84 $351 $126 $94 $95 Source: CB Insights

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