FILE PHOTO: Dr. Howard Mortman, an obstetrician/gynecologist, condemned Nuvance’s proposed closing of Sharon Hospital’s maternity unit in October 2022. Credit: Terry Cowgill / CTNewsJunkie
The birthing center at Sharon Hospital will remain open for at least five more years in a deal struck between the attorney general’s office and the new owners of the hospital.
Sharon Hospital had applied to close its birthing center as part of a merger between Nuvance Health, its parent company, and Northwell Health, a hospital operator in the state of New York. The Connecticut Office of the Attorney General said that the deal “resolv[ed] the antitrust investigation into the proposed affiliation between the two hospital systems.”
“Miles and minutes matter when it comes to labor and delivery, and I am pleased that Northwell has committed to preserving affordable, lifesaving care — especially maternity care — for Western Connecticut,” Attorney General William Tong said in a statement announcing the deal on Monday. “This is a strong, enforceable agreement for healthcare access in Connecticut. I will continue to aggressively pursue all available tools, and to advocate for even stronger measures, to address any harmful impacts of healthcare consolidation for Connecticut families.”
The decision to keep the birthing center open had bipartisan support.
“This has been a top concern in the Northwest corner: keeping the doors of Sharon Hospital’s Maternity Ward open and operational,” said Sen. Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, in a statement. “Our mutual goal is to maintain affordable access to rural health care in our region. I thank Attorney General Tong for his work on this.”
Nuvance Health consists of Danbury Hospital, New Milford Hospital, Norwalk Hospital, and Sharon Hospital in Connecticut, as well as three hospitals in New York. Northwell Health runs 21 hospitals across New York.
As part of the deal, Northwell Health agrees to keep the birthing center open for five years under certain conditions, which include preserving, strengthening, and expanding women’s health services; committing financial and operational resources towards the installation of a unified electronic medical records system, and negotiating rates for reimbursement of services independently for Connecticut and New York facilities.
Sharon Hospital released a statement regarding the deal.
“We are pleased to partner with the Connecticut and New York Offices of the Attorney Generals in developing an Agreement of Assurances which identifies specific post-affiliation activities and commitments that will benefit the communities currently served by Nuvance Health. Under the Affiliation Agreement, Northwell has made a commitment to provide Nuvance Health with capital, expertise, and support to achieve long-term fiscal stability and make critical growth investments.”
According to the agreement of assurances that governs the deal, the Connecticut and New York attorneys general found that Nuvance’s financial condition had been declining for several years. Nuvance itself was the result of a 2019 merger between Health Quest and Western Connecticut Health Network.
“The challenging healthcare and financial environment during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, inability to invest due to financial constraints which has led to infrastructure gaps, underutilization of services, limited ambulatory network, and staffing and recruitment challenges,” the document states. “Nuvance’s financial challenges will soon impact its ability to provide local healthcare at its Connecticut and New York hospitals due to large operating losses and liquidity constraints.”
The deal follows the closing of the birthing center at Windham Hospital in December 2023. The hospital had performed its last live birth in 2020 and sought permission to close its birthing center soon thereafter. However, a three-year legal battle kept the birthing center open in name only, until the state and Hartford Healthcare, which operates Windham Hospital, reached an agreement where Hartford Healthcare pledged to conduct a study regarding the need for a third-party birthing center in the city.
Dr. Deidre S. Gifford, commissioner of the state Office of Health Strategy, released a statement in agreement with the attorney general’s commitment to ensuring high-quality, accessible and affordable healthcare services for Connecticut residents.
“The assurances reached with Northwell Health and Nuvance Health in the matter of the antitrust investigation conducted by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) represent one important component of health systems planning in our state,” Gifford said. “The agreement of assurances aligns with the Office of Health Strategy Certificate of Need (CON) final decision rejecting a proposal to close labor and delivery services at Sharon Hospital (Docket No. 32511). The agreement of assurances, however, does not replace or supplant the CON application process as it relates either to Sharon Hospital’s maternity care services or the proposed transfer of ownership of Nuvance Health to Northwell Health (Docket No. 32717). The CON application review will continue as an independent process as outlined in statute and described generally in the CON Guidebook.”
