Hartford-based Connecticut Children’s is seeking approval to relocate inpatient pediatric services from Saint Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, Conn., to its Hartford campus, citing nearly a decade of low patient volume at the Waterbury unit, a spokesperson confirmed to Becker’s Aug. 3.
The pediatric health system said the Saint Mary’s unit has averaged fewer than three patients per day for close to 10 years despite multiple efforts to increase utilization. Children who now require hospitalization are often more medically complex and need immediate access to pediatric specialists, intensive care, advanced diagnostics and multidisciplinary teams available in Hartford, the system said.
Connecticut Children’s has filed a Certificate of Need application for the relocation. The state Department of Public Health held a hearing on the proposal July 30, and any final relocation date depends on the outcome of that process.
The system said Waterbury-area children will continue receiving care through referral and care-coordination arrangements with Saint Mary’s Hospital and Waterbury Hospital. Over the past year and a half, Connecticut Children’s said it has accepted an average of at least one inpatient per day from the Waterbury area into Hartford, with no added cost to families and direct support when transportation creates a hardship. Emergency care will remain available locally, with transfers to Hartford for specialized inpatient needs.
“This is not about reducing care or prioritizing finances over children,” Connecticut Children’s said in the statement. “It is about ensuring that our finite pediatric resources are deployed where they can provide the safest, highest-quality care to the greatest number of children across Connecticut.”
Beyond Medicaid reimbursement pressures, the system cited advances in outpatient pediatric care that have reduced demand for lower-acuity hospitalizations while raising the need for specialist-supported, high-acuity care, along with the importance of maintaining clinical competencies among staff. Connecticut Children’s said it explored multiple alternatives and made sustained efforts to increase utilization before concluding that consolidating inpatient services was the best way to serve children statewide.
Connecticut Children’s operates more than 30 locations across Connecticut, Eastern New York and western Massachusetts.
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