Governor orders delay, time to study CON approvals for massive hospital mergers

Yesterday Governor Malloy issued an Executive Order halting state Certificate of Need approvals for hospital mergers that would cover more than 20% of total CT hospital spending until Jan. 15, 2017. The delay will allow for a “fair and through” review of the CON process by a new taskforce. Concerns about the current CON process have been raised most recently because of reductions in services at Windham Hospital when they merged with Hartford Healthcare and creating a tipping point of market concentration that could escalate prices. The Executive Order came a day after the Public Health Committee held a public hearing on bills to revise the CON process and restrict hospital administrator pay.