Bristol Hospital still strong despite loss of $2.6M from CT

By LISA CAPOBIANCO
STAFF WRITER
Although Bristol Hospital is facing a loss of $2.6 million from the state budget, the nonprofit has continued making investments in technology and recruiting new doctors over the past year.
This $2.6 million loss comes after a legislative special session. Under Connecticut’s hospital tax, Bristol Hospital was initially expected to lose at least $7.5 million this fiscal year.
The legislative session also ended with a $200,000 to $300,000 loss of Medicaid funds from the state, said Barwis, adding that the original cuts would have been devastating.
“The rescissions would have been incredibly devastating,” said Barwis.
Despite the challenges that the hospital faced at the state level, the nonprofit experienced one of the highest recruitment cycles in its history, despite some lay-offs that took place this past June. Over a dozen new doctors were recruited in a variety of specialties, including behavioral health, cardiology, orthopedic and spine health, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, rheumatology, surgical oncology, vascular surgery and urology oncology.
“We go through an extensive medical staff planning process, where we look at what patients in our community need,” said Barwis, adding how there is always a need for primary care physicians. “We hire a firm to give us the exact data and then what’s the supply for that kind of specialty.”
For Bristol Hospital, the strategy is focusing on the integration of new services and physicians in the community as quickly as possible.
“We need the people that we have to support the development of these new service lines and practices,” said Barwis. “What we need is to get the word out there that we have some new incredible resources. If that happens, we can accelerate absorption of these practices in the community.”
In addition, Bristol Hospital has continued making investments in technology. The Beekley Center for Breast Health and Wellness recently began offering patients access to 3D mammography. At the Center for Surgery and Endoscopy, patients have undergone surgery with the new robotic surgery system, da Vinci Xi.
“We don’t stop,” said Barwis. “We’re driven to achieve the best.”
Although the hospital will lose money this fiscal year, Barwis said the key is being cash positive, which he believes the non-profit will be able to achieve in six months.
“We’re fully prepared to go for a year or so on the loss side, but we also know that we need to generate cash to keep it going,” said Barwis. “Financially we’ve been positioning the hospital to be in the best place possible to borrow and make some investments. We’ve really built up our balance sheet to help us weather a storm like this.”
At Bristol Hospital, employees and community members have shown support throughout the budget process. Since this past spring, the hospital led a letter-writing campaign that encouraged employees, board members and the community at large to send letters to their local legislators about the budget cuts from the state. The result was thousands of letters in support of the sustainability of Bristol Hospital.
Another support for the hospital has been its partnership with Yale-New Haven Hospital. Bristol Hospital shares its supply chain or purchasing.
“It’s been immensely helpful to us because we’ve been able to buy…all kinds of medical devices at a fraction of the cost,” said Barwis, adding how that partnership as resulted in cost savings for the hospital.
Looking ahead to the future development of Bristol Hospital, Barwis said more advancements will take place in the areas of urology, primary care and geriatric services, to name a few. Barwis also hopes that the hospital’s behavioral health service line with Wheeler Clinic will continue to evolve. 
“We will work with Wheeler Clinic to come up with what’s the next step…how do we…improve this service in the community,” said Barwis.