Local Health Care Providers, Foundation Join Forces to Spark Dialogue on Community Health and Wellness Needs

September 13 Health Needs Forum and Exchange Aims to Help Set Path for Future

New Britain, Conn., August 11, 2016 – Taking the next step in an on-going, comprehensive insight- and information-gathering process that will shape the future delivery of health care in Central Connecticut, the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, Hospital of Central Connecticut and Hospital for Special Care are partnering to offer community stakeholders a chance to further the dialogue.

The three major, local non-profit institutions are joining forces to host a Community Health Needs Forum and Exchange on Tuesday, September 13, 2016, at the Hospital for Special Care’s Research and Education Center (370 Osgood Avenue, entrance on Corbin Avenue). The event will afford each institution a chance to share information about projects being developed targeting recently identified community health needs, and will provide health care providers, policy makers, community stakeholders and other key informants the opportunity to voice feedback, share their own projects and explore potential collaborations.

Participants will include Lucille Janatka, president of the Hospital of Central Connecticut (THOCC), MidState Medical Center and Senior Vice President of Hartford HealthCare; Lynn Ricci, FACHE, president and chief executive officer of Hospital for Special Care (HSC); and Jim Williamson, president of the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain (CFGNB), each of whom will offer brief opening remarks.

“This event epitomizes the vital importance of collaboration in meeting the needs of our communities,” said Williamson. “Thanks to the recently completed, statewide Community Wellbeing Survey of which we each were a part, and the hospitals’ own thorough Community Needs Assessments, we have the critical data we need in hand; the challenge now is to share this information with the community and begin the conversation as to how we can collaborate to work better, plan better and achieve our shared goals.”

Much of the forum’s discussion will center on healthcare-related findings from the 2015 Community Wellbeing Survey, the most comprehensive study of quality of life ever conducted in Connecticut. More than 50 of Connecticut’s leading foundations, hospitals, community institutions and government agencies sponsored the landmark survey, with more than 16,000 state residents taking part. Also central to the discussion will be THOCC’s and HSC’s own Community Health Needs Assessments, which identified key health issues and needs of individuals in the local area.

“As we begin to address identified issues, it is important to continuously identify and invite new people and groups to the table to develop broad-based solutions. That’s what this forum is about,” said Janatka.

“Such solutions require the community as a whole to determine available resources and deploy them in a logical, impactful manner.”

Added Ricci, “At Hospital for Special Care, interdisciplinary teams provide patient care so that all clinicians may work together to achieve the goals of each patient. We approach meeting the healthcare needs of our community in the same way. This forum will provide a venue to begin the necessary collaborative efforts to meet these needs.”

Ricci offered an example of how information gathered might shape the future delivery of care at Hospital for Special Care.

“Hospital for Special Care has offered oral health services to uninsured children for nearly 20 years, but our Community Health Needs Assessment showed that a number of adults do not visit a dentist regularly due to lack of funds or fear of dentists,” she said. “Accordingly, we plan to promote the importance of oral healthcare to the parents of our patients, and suggest practices that provide care regardless of ability to pay as well as those that specialize in patients with fear.”

The forum takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. It is open to the public and targeted to healthcare providers; elected officials and policy makers; community leaders and stakeholders; and key informants who may have already provided input during the hospitals’ Community Health Needs Assessments process. Advance reservations are required. RSVP to Kimberly Duncan at the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, kduncan@cfgnb.org. For more information, call (860) 229-6018.

Established in 1941, the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain is “Where Good Begins” in Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and Southington. The Foundation works to inspire philanthropy, manage permanent charitable assets effectively, and partner to address key community issues through strategic leadership. For more information, visit www.cfgnb.org.

The Hospital of Central Connecticut is a 414-bed, 32-bassinet acute care teaching hospital with two campuses, New Britain General and Bradley Memorial in Southington. A member of Hartford HealthCare, HOCC services include emergency services, inpatient medicine, surgery, laboratory, and radiology. Among specialty areas are cardiovascular care, metabolic health, obstetrics, oncology, orthopedics, and psychiatry/behavioral health. For more information, please visit www.thocc.org.

Hospital for Special Care, located in New Britain and Hartford, is one of the four largest, free-standing long-term acute care hospitals in the United States and the nation’s only long-term acute-care hospital serving adults and children. HSC is recognized for advanced care and rehabilitation in pulmonary care, acquired brain injury, medically-complex pediatrics, neuromuscular disorders (including ALS research), spinal cord injury, comprehensive heart failure as well as diagnostic, assessment and consulting services for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. For more information, visit www.hfsc.org,

Contacts:

 

Jim Williamson, Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, (860) 229-6018 x306, jim@cfgnb.org

Lynn Faria, The Hospital of Central Connecticut, (203) 694-8731, lynn.faria@hhchealth.org

Susan Mitchell, Hospital for Special Care, (860 832-6201, smitchell@hfsc.org