Nancy Heaton, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Foundation for Community Health, has been appointed to the newly established Governor’s Certificates of Need Task Force. 

The establishment of the taskforce was included in the 2022 CT state budget and is directed to study and make recommendations to the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) with the goal of improving the state’s Certificate of Need (CON) process. 

The CON program regulates certain healthcare providers (e.g., hospitals) requiring that they seek state approval prior to making major changes.  These potential changes include mergers, significantly large capital investment in new equipment or facilities, changing access to services, or discontinuing a medical service.

Some of the questions this 16-member taskforce has been asked to investigate include but are not limited to:

·         analyzing services and facilities and their impact on equity and underserved populations

·         authorizing OHS to require investments to address community needs

·         guaranteeing local community representation on hospital boards

·         setting standards to measure quality indicators after consolidations

·         enacting higher penalties for noncompliance and increasing the staff needed for enforcement

The taskforce is to make recommendations on the initiatives by January 15, 2023.

According to Ms. Heaton, she is “interested in exploring the balance of the state’s responsibility in ensuring healthcare access to all residents, particularly those living in rural areas and on Medicaid and with limited resources, with the reality that healthcare is delivered by private entities (both for- and non-profit) that have their own business needs, models and fiscal realities.” 

Click file for more information on the establishment of the taskforce and the specific questions it has been tasked to investigate.