It’s certainly no secret that DKH has been exploring partnership options for close to a decade due to a variety of factors. Throughout the industry, there is a growing recognition that being part of a larger health system and having access to greater purchasing power, resources and broader clinical expertise can help strengthen operations and long-term viability. This is at a time when reimbursement and inpatient volumes are decreasing, and financial and regulatory pressure increasing. This was true even before the global pandemic began, and these pressures have only grown since.
An affiliation with a larger health system is critical to Day Kimball Healthcare’s (DKH) ability to maintain the broadest range of services that match closely to what we offer today. What’s more, our long-term survival as a comprehensive healthcare system rest on the success of a partnership.
As Day Kimball Healthcare evaluated partnership opportunities, we were specifically looking for an organization that is committed to providing high-quality, patient-centered care in communities like ours, and one that shares our mission of improving the health and wellbeing of our community by providing the best medical care. Covenant Health is just that partner. Covenant is committed to preserving DKH’s individual philosophy and mission as well as elevating the values that we already hold. Covenant welcomes organizations that are values-driven and not-for-profit, with a focus on helping organizations like ours be a stronger, more successful provider in today’s incredibly challenging healthcare world.
There seems to be a misconception in the community that if this partnership falls through, another potential partner or suitor will come forward. We have had extensive conversations with other larger health systems, including Hartford Healthcare, Prospect Medical Holdings and Yale New Haven Health, and those systems did not share our vision of keeping DKH as a full-service community hospital. They would have changed the way DKH looks, operates and provides care. Specifically, other affiliations would not preserve vital in-community services such as labor and delivery, ICU, surgical services and other in-patient care. I believe wholeheartedly the affiliation with Covenant Health is a much better match. It will not only provide the stability that we need to preserve the resources DKH needs to balance the many needs of our area residents, it also will allow us to still be Day Kimball. Just like Day Kimball, Covenant is a community-based, caring and compassionate organization that believes healthcare is best delivered locally.
We are very proud to serve our community, and we are proud of our history. We don’t take lightly the 128 years that have brought us to this moment. We have profound respect for all those who walked our hallways before us, and we believe the direction we are taking simultaneously honors our history and builds our future. The work we have done is incredibly important, as it has set the stage for this moment. Just as in life, we learn, we grow, and we move forward. Our moving forward is best achieved in partnership with an organization that recognizes where we have been, where we are, and wants to be part of where we are going – with an unwavering commitment to our community, our neighbors, our friends, our families – to who we are: Day Kimball. That partner is Covenant Health – they are committed to our being Day Kimball!
On a personal level, I believe in this organization, this hospital, this team. I have witnessed the dedication, strength, courage, and resilience of every single member of our team through the some very tough times. What I want most of all is for this organization and this team to thrive and have the opportunity to continue to grow and serve this community from cradle to grave. I’ve had the privilege of getting to know team members from Covenant Health, and I see in them the same spirit that exists here at Day Kimball – a commitment to selfless service and to making a difference in the lives of those we are privileged to encounter. What I see is that Covenant Health is just like Day Kimball, and we are better together.
Day Kimball Healthcare and Covenant Health filed a Certificate of Need application with the State of Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) requesting regulatory review of our proposal for Day Kimball Healthcare to become a full member of Covenant Health. Covenant Health and Day Kimball Healthcare continue to move through the regulatory process to receive approval on our application for a Certificate of Need from the State of Connecticut for our proposed affiliation.
Given the complexities of a hospital affiliation and the merging of operations and culture, the regulatory review of a hospital affiliation is a tremendous undertaking. Throughout this process OHS will ask questions and DKH and Covenant will submit significant detailed information. Most recently, OHS has asked a series of questions they call Completeness Questions. This is part of the typical and expected review process. DKH and Covenant carefully review any requests for additional information and respond to all questions raised by OHS to explain the finer details of our application. We are confident that OHS will find our proposed affiliation consistent with needs defined in the Certificate of Need statutes and in the best interests of the residents of Northeast Connecticut, Southern Massachusetts, and Western Rhode Island.
We will keep you informed of major updates.
As a larger health system, Covenant Health is committed to helping smaller healthcare organizations survive and thrive at a time when many small hospitals are closing their doors due to dramatically increasing costs, regulatory pressures and declining revenue. And, as the largest employer in the county, this partnership will help us retain jobs and community spending that are crucial to the economic well-being of Putnam and beyond.
This is also a good move for our staff and the community. I am especially excited about being able to leverage so many more resources available through Covenant Health, including access to capital that can be invested in expanding services and new patient care technology that will improve our ability to provide leading-edge healthcare. In addition, our affiliation will offer our clinical staff opportunities to share their expertise and clinical best practices with Covenant Health’s other hospitals and facilities, and vice versa.
No. This is a real misconception. Covenant Health organizations provide compassionate, high-quality care to patients and residents of all faith backgrounds and beliefs, including patients and residents who do not identify with any religion.
In fact, our affiliation with Covenant will serve to deepen our commitment to serving our community and all patients, regardless age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity and perspective just as it does today. Furthermore, our affiliation with Covenant will strengthen our ability and commitment to serving patients regardless of ability to pay.
To understand why we believe so strongly in our partnership with Covenant, it is important to appreciate the meaning of “Catholic health care”. Even without being a Catholic organization, Day Kimball Healthcare embraces the philosophy of Catholic health care, which is to provide compassionate care to people regardless of their background, circumstances, faith and/or beliefs, or ability to pay. Catholic health care providers adhere to the fundamental belief that all life must be treated with awe, respect and dignity. This fundamental belief applies to all persons who come seeking care. The tradition in Catholic health is to treat each person who walks through the door holistically – mind, body, and spirit.
No. As mentioned above, a primary benefit of Catholic health care is its commitment to care for the whole person – body, mind and spirit. With this in mind, it is vitally important to offer spiritual care services to patients, residents and their families according to their personal beliefs and preferences and to respect and honor the wishes of those who do not affiliate with any deity or religion.
In addition, the DKH spiritual care team will maintain open and respectful relationships with clergy and faith leaders representing many different faiths and traditions. In addition to offering a listening and supportive presence to those who request it, members of our spiritual care team will continue to connect patients and residents with the leaders from their faith tradition.
When this affiliation is finalized, our intention is to retain and enhance vital health care services for the community. The vast majority of services we provide today will still be performed tomorrow. Because Covenant is a Catholic healthcare system, certain services will need to be contemplated differently than they are today.
There has been considerable concern raised about women’s health and the prospect that services available today through our physician offices and hospital will cease to be available. This simply isn’t the case. In many cases, women’s health services and procedures, including oral birth control pills, hormone-eluting implantable uterine devices (IUDs), fallopian tube removal, and D&Cs (dilation and curettage), are performed to maintain health and women’s wellness, to address a medical condition, prevent disease, and mitigate cancer risks. These tools will continue to be used at Day Kimball by Day Kimball providers as they treat women throughout their lives. In fact, it is our intention to expand access to services for women in light of the fact that other hospitals in our broader region have chosen to reduce or eliminate such services.
The same end-of-life services provided by Day Kimball today will be provided after an affiliation with Covenant. End-of-life documentation such as Living Wills and DNRs (Do Not Resuscitate orders) will continue to be honored. Furthermore, all difficult and complex decisions for those seriously ill or dying are made in real time through DKH’s Ethics Committee comprised of a team of highly skilled and compassionate physicians who are guided by the principles of doing what is best for the patient and preventing human suffering.
Absolutely. We respect and value patients and people regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, and we are committed to providing care that is compassionate, high-quality and culturally competent.
Procedures related to gender transition are highly specialized and complex and are not typically performed in small community hospitals like ours. While we acknowledge the importance of these services, community hospitals such as Day Kimball are not equipped to provide the necessary multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted care to patients who are in the process of gender transition. To ensure that patients receive the best possible care, these patients are treated in tertiary or quaternary care facilities that specialize in the complex aspects of care in this clinical area. Day Kimball’s practices in this area of medicine will remain unchanged.
We can confidently say that benefits offered to current employees as part of the larger organization will at a minimum be comparable to what is offered today. More to come.
Yes. We would like our internal and external communities to recognize that there are always challenges and differences to be worked through with any new relationship. And it is our goal and passion to serve the larger community regardless of demographics.
We have consistently heard a soft drumbeat that religion does not belong in health care. As outlined in this Q&A, our affiliation with Covenant Health serves to expand our commitment and passion to provide compassionate care to the people of our community, while caring for the whole person, not to introduce religion. We stand ready to care for the health care needs of our neighbors, friends and family members with empathy and compassion and without judgement.
We also want to remind folks that we are a quality and leading community hospital and medical group. Day Kimball is a top-ranked hospital and health system, and we are very proud to bring our skills and these recognitions to our partnership with Covenant Health.
We have achieved the highest five-star quality rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Nationally, DKH ranks in the top 13 percent (one of just over 400) of eligible hospitals that have earned this distinction.
Over the last three years, DKH has earned an “A” grade from the Leapfrog Group’s Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing DKH’s achievements protecting patients from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.
We are excited and optimistic for the future as this process with Covenant Health progresses. We strongly believe that we have found the right partnership to enable Day Kimball to continue to be the hospital that Northeast Connecticut has known for the past 128 years, just better! Without a doubt, this is our time, this is our team, and this is our town! We are Day Kimball, and we are unapologetically proud of our past, present, and future!
