Attorney General Tong Reaches Agreement with Northwell Health and Nuvance Health to Preserve Labor & Delivery Services at Sharon Hospital and Strengthen Access to Local Healthcare in Western Connecticut

Press Releases

08/26/2024

Attorney General Tong Reaches Agreement with Northwell Health and Nuvance Health to Preserve Labor & Delivery Services at Sharon Hospital and Strengthen Access to Local Healthcare in Western Connecticut

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong today announced an agreement with Northwell Health, Inc. and Northwell Healthcare, Inc. (collectively “Northwell”) and Nuvance Health (Nuvance) to preserve labor and delivery services at Sharon Hospital and to strengthen access to local healthcare in Western Connecticut, resolving the antitrust investigation into the proposed affiliation between the two hospital systems. Nuvance is comprised of Danbury Hospital, New Milford Hospital, Norwalk Hospital, and Sharon Hospital in Connecticut, as well as three hospitals in New York, and Northwell Health is a comprehensive, integrated health care delivery system that is comprised of 21 hospitals across New York.

Under the agreement of assurances, signed by offices of the attorneys general for both Connecticut and New York, Northwell Health agrees to several enforceable conditions for five years to maintain competition in the healthcare market and affordable access to healthcare.

The conditions include:
• Preserving, strengthening, and expanding women’s health services, including maternity and Labor and Delivery services at Sharon Hospital;
• Committing financial and operational resources towards the installation of a unified electronic medical records system, including related IT and cybersecurity expertise required for improvements of Nuvance’s IT infrastructure and enhancement of data security;
• Negotiating rates for reimbursement of services independently for Connecticut and New York facilities, and to otherwise comply with the terms of Connecticut’s new statute prohibiting all-or-nothing, anti-steering, anti-tiering clauses in network agreements between payors or plan sponsors and providers. The purpose of this statute is to enable employers, insurers and other payors to keep costs from skyrocketing as healthcare systems consolidate.

“Miles and minutes matter when it comes to labor and delivery, and I am pleased that Northwell has committed to preserving affordable, lifesaving care—especially maternity care—for Western Connecticut. This is a strong, enforceable agreement for healthcare access in Connecticut. I will continue to aggressively pursue all available tools, and to advocate for even stronger measures, to address any harmful impacts of healthcare consolidation for Connecticut families,” said Attorney General Tong.

Under Connecticut law, the Office of the Attorney General receives notice when a Connecticut hospital, hospital system or other health care provider is a party to a merger or acquisition. The Office of the Attorney General is committed to investigating and enforcing against anticompetitive conduct or other barriers that would limit affordable access to quality healthcare.

This proposed transaction is also pending resolution before the Office of Health Strategy’s Certificate of Need regulatory process.

Assistant Attorney General Rahul Darwar and Deputy Associate Attorney General Nicole Demers, Chief of the Antitrust Section assisted the Attorney General with this matter.

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong

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Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov

Consumer Inquiries:

860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov