The CEOs of three major Connecticut health systems recently reflected on the COVID-19 pandemic during a May virtual panel discussion hosted by Hartford Business Journal.
During the discussion, panelists discussed getting through the presumed worst of the crisis in Connecticut and how they move forward during uncertain times.
Panelists were Hartford HealthCare's Jeffrey Flaks, Yale New Haven Health's Marna Borgstrom, and Hartford-based Trinity Health of New England's Reginald Eadie, MD.
Three quotes from the panelists:
1. Mr. Flaks on typically competitive institutions helping each other address patient and supply needs during the area's COVID-19 surge: "Lives were saved as a result of it and tragedies were avoided. There are no uniforms during a pandemic."
2. Ms. Borgstrom on the work and future mental health needs of front-line healthcare workers: "They've seen things. They have been the only source of support in-person for patients who have drawn their last breath. Those are things that are going to impact our healthcare workers for a long, long time."
3. Dr. Eadie on hospitals' cost burdens and revenue losses due to the pandemic: "It was a public health crisis that turned into, to some degree, a financial crisis for some providers. There's not going to be an easy way out of the current predicament that we're in."
As of 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on May 30, Connecticut reported 42,201 laboratory-confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 481 patients hospitalized with the coronavirus. Read the full Business Journal report here.