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News Release

September 9, 2009

Contact: Chris DeFrancesco, 860-679-3914
e-mail: cdefrancesco@uchc.edu 

UConn-Hartford Hospital Partnership Would Include New Dental Clinics

FARMINGTON, CONN. – New dental clinics would accompany – or precede – the replacement hospital that is part of the proposed partnership agreement between the University of Connecticut Health Center and Hartford Healthcare, the parent company of Hartford Hospital.

The new dental clinics would replace the dental clinics on the first floor of the UConn Health Center’s main building in Farmington. The new clinics would either be included in the hospital that would be built as a replacement for John Dempsey Hospital, or be constructed adjacent to the new hospital. If constructed separately, the new dental clinics likely would be operational before the new hospital opens.

“This is exceptionally good news for us,” says Monty MacNeil, dean of the UConn School of Dental Medicine. “It represents a major commitment by Hartford Healthcare to our school and its clinical operations, and it will help us improve the delivery of dental care to the region.”

UConn’s dental clinics opened in 1975 and today average more than 75,000 patient visits a year. Nearly two-thirds of the clinics’ patients are without private dental insurance. The current clinics are old and dated, however. Their replacement is essential to the future of the UConn School of Dental Medicine, which is widely recognized as one of the nation’s best dental schools.

Under the proposed partnership agreement, the state would build a new, 250-bed hospital on the UConn Health Center campus that would combine with Hartford Hospital to form a joint clinical enterprise to be known as “University Hospital.” With nearly 1,100 total beds, the UConn Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine would go from having one of the smallest university hospitals in the country to one of the largest. Hartford Healthcare would operate the collective University Hospital system and assume its financial risk, while UConn would share in its profits.

The agreement requires state government approval. It remains under consideration in the General Assembly.

UConn is also proposing a collaborative designed to strengthen the medical and dental schools’ academic and research relationships with Hartford Hospital, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, the Hospital of Central Connecticut, and Bristol Hospital.

UConn Health includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Home to Bioscience Connecticut, UConn Health pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about UConn Health is available at www.uchc.edu.

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