UCONN HEALTH CENTER in THE BUDGET

Some legislators were surprised late Friday night when they turned to Section 90 in the budget bill and saw an unexpected change in the upcoming study for the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.

Word traveled quickly among Capitol insiders that the contract oversight of the study had been taken away from the state Office of Health Care Access and switched to the Office of Legislative Management, giving the legislature more oversight. The study will focus on UConn's controversial plan to build a new replacement for John Dempsey Hospital, which has been strongly opposed by Hartford Hospital, Bristol Hospital, and St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, among others.

Even legislators who have been following the controversy closely were unaware of the last-minute change, which was buried on page 115 of a heavily detailed, 161-page document. Insiders made sure that the governor's office was aware of the 11th-hour change.

The needs-based analysis will be conducted by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, known as CASE, which was the organization named in a previous bill that was passed by the legislature.

Rep. Denise Merrill, the co-chairwoman of the budget-writing appropriations committee, said that OHCA was not the proper entity to oversee the study because it would have to grant a certificate of need if the $495 million UConn plan is approved.

"That's why we thought it was a conflict of interest,'' Merrill said after 11:30 p.m. Friday night. "CASE is perfect because they are apolitical'' as a statewide academic research group of scientists and engineers.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell agreed, saying, "To be a part of a study would be inappropriate, I think, on OHCA's part.''

Rell seemed to want to talk further about the health center before cutting herself off. "I have to tell you I'm not even sure that, that, well, I'll hold that thought,'' Rell said in a late-night chat with reporters as she sat on a red, padded bench outside the Hall of the House.

Rell's chief lieutenant, M. Lisa Moody, made sure that the health center was mentioned during the budget debate as part of "legislative intent,'' and the issue was discussed on the House floor early Saturday morning.

UConn has been displeased with the outspoken comments of Rep. Christopher Caruso, saying that the Bridgeport Democrat is not from the region of the Farmington hospital and he does not serve on the legislature's higher education committee. Caruso rejects that notion, saying that Bridgeport's taxpayers help fund the UConn Health Center.

Caruso says the health center needs to be better managed, citing a $22 million deficit in the current fiscal year. He complains that the legislature this year is bailing out the health center in the same way as it did seven years ago. UConn, he said, can simply run up a deficit and then turn to the legislature for help.

"There's no accountability,'' Caruso said. "It's a culture of tolerance. At the end of the day, we'll bail them out again. If they didn't have a Sugar Daddy to come to, they'd have to change what they're doing.
source:blogs.courant.com