Transforming Health Education, Research and Clinical Care
in the Greater Hartford Region: A Conceptual Framework

(1) The University of Connecticut and Hartford Hospital have joined with the other regional hospitals in an unprecedented effort to transform the Connecticut healthcare landscape.  Their vision has  two key components: the Connecticut Health Collaborative, which will include UConn, Hartford Healthcare Corporation, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, The Hospital of Central Connecticut, and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center ; and

(2) the Principal Partnership between Hartford Healthcare Corporation (the parent company of Hartford Hospital) and the University of Connecticut Health Center (and its John Dempsey Hospital).  Together, these two newly established relationships will bring significant energy, capacity and focus to the enhancement of healthcare delivery, medical education and research, and economic development in the Hartford region and, indeed, the entire state.

The Collaborative, to be comprised of a broad network of affiliates, will seek to support the educational and research mission of all affiliates by expanding their interaction with medical and dental students, interns and residents, and enhancing their access to emerging science through the systematic transfer of state-of-the-art knowledge to each hospital’s workforce.  It will also support the UConn School of Medicine in its efforts to secure (through the National Institutes of Health) a Clinical and Translational Science Award.  This award would help to fund a new Connecticut Institute of Clinical and Translational Science, which will embody a shared commitment among the partners to organize, expand, and deepen biomedical research in the region.  In addition, the Collaborative will also explore cooperative initiatives in allied health education and will undertake new efforts to enhance the health status of Connecticut citizens by using research to develop and disseminate new and successful models of care, particularly for underserved populations.

The Partnership will form the nucleus of the restructured clinical enterprise of the UConn Health Center.  This will include the development of a University Hospital, located on two campuses:  Hartford and Farmington.  The Farmington facility will be owned by UConn, and will be operated by Hartford Healthcare; the Hartford facility will continue to be owned and operated by Hartford Healthcare.  This University Hospital will have as an explicit goal its evolution into one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers.  It will be both the state’s academic hospital and the core of Hartford Healthcare, attracting world class physicians, dentists, and other health care professionals, and will become a destination for patients seeking medical care that is informed by the most current developments in science.  The University Hospital will be instrumental in advancing the School of Medicine’s educational ranking, sponsored research funding, and clinical reputation.  The University Hospital will similarly advance the national reputation and regional presence of Hartford Healthcare.

The University Hospital will maintain and operate its existing licensed beds and will have associated ambulatory care delivery sites.  It will be the flagship teaching hospital for the Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine and the primary site for the clinical research activities of the School of Medicine. 

The University Hospital will have one medical staff, maintaining the highest standards of clinical care and clinical education.  A model for a combined clinical faculty, with a common practice plan, will be developed.   This aspect of the partnership will, in many ways, serve as the blueprint for the uniting of two different cultures through a single, shared vision. Employees of the Farmington facility will remain state employees and maintain their rights under collective bargaining agreements where applicable.