In May 2017, Day Kimball Healthcare announced that it is now a community partner of Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS). Building upon the strengths of two independent, community minded organizations, this exciting new relationship will allow DKH to expand access to high quality healthcare providers, enhance current services, as well as the possibility of introducing new services in the future – an exciting prospect for Day Kimball’s staff, patients and donors alike. In reaching out to share this great news, we wish to provide some important facts about what this relationship means to you – our northeast Connecticut family and friends.

This is a partnership, pure and simple. It’s important to first understand that our designation as a community partner of YNNH is just that: a partnership between two independent organizations for the betterment of both. It is not a merger or affiliation. DKH will remain the same independent, non-profit community hospital and healthcare system we have always been since our organization was founded by the community of northeast Connecticut 122 years ago. Much in the same way that DKH’s clinical partnership with UMass Memorial Medical Center for emergency cardiac and stroke care has served our patients well for years, this partnership with YNHHS will allow us access to certain clinical and administrative services of our choosing, based upon our own needs for the community we serve.

Your generous contributions to our fundraising efforts are still critical and remain strictly local. This partnership does not change the fact that support of the community remains a significant component in our ability to maintain and grow our services and to provide care to those in need. Please know that all contributions made to Day Kimball Healthcare, the Northeast Connecticut Cancer Fund of DKH, and all other DKH services and facilities will remain with DKH to be used for their intended purpose in care of our patients. It is also important to know that this partnership does not include any financial support from YNHHS. However, it is expected that the benefits of access and reputation that this partnership provides will allow DKH to strengthen its own finances through cost savings as well as growth in services.

This partnership will enhance clinical care at DKH, expand access to care providers in northeast Connecticut, introduce new technologies, and provide opportunities for cost efficiencies. By becoming a community partner of YNHHS, DKH now has access to certain clinical, administrative and technological services of YNHHS. Currently, this includes our participation in the YNHHS purchasing network, an agreement that has already been in place for about a year and has allowed our organization to save more than $300,000 through economy of scale in the purchase of materials. Moving forward, the partnership will also include expanding access to specialty care and other medical providers that are currently in need in our service area by leveraging the services of YNHH-employed and associated providers. There is a YNHHS cardiologist already maintaining an office at our DKH center in Plainfield. We are also working to incorporate an ‘eICU’ clinical service at Day Kimball Hospital, which would allow specially trained critical care staff at Yale to provide patient monitoring and consulting support to our critical care staff at Day Kimball Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. The result of this state-of-the-art monitoring system is that patients who are more seriously ill can continue receiving the highest quality care close to home – here at Day Kimball, instead of having to be transferred to a larger and more distant tertiary care center.

This partnership is a positive and progressive strategy for growth. The benefit for DKH and northeast Connecticut is that it will allow DKH to save money through economies of scale in purchasing, gain access to new technologies and expand access to specialty care services and providers that are currently in need in our region – all of which are benefits that would otherwise be difficult for a small community hospital and healthcare system such as DKH to attain. The ultimate benefit is that it provides the opportunity for DKH to enhance clinical care and expand access to high quality services and providers close to home for our patients, right here within their own communities. For YNHHS, they are receiving the benefit of DKH’s assistance and use of our facilities, allowing their organization to expand their reach in terms of the areas and number of patients that their providers can serve. Our participation in programs such as their purchasing network also serves to bring more value and impact to those programs for all participants.

This partnership serves and strengthens the mission of both DKH and YNHHS. We are very pleased to be entering such a partnership with an organization whose mission, values and vision for what healthcare should be are so closely aligned with our own. Yale New Haven Health was formed in 1995 to “focus on enhancing the lives of those we serve by providing access to integrated, high-value, patient-centered care in collaboration with others who share our values” (www.ynhhs.org). In addition, YNHHS has an excellent reputation for quality of clinical care as well as the manner in which that care is delivered. We are proud that the leadership of YNHHS recognizes that what their organization represents in terms of reputation for quality and innovation on a larger scale, DKH also embodies in the community hospital and provider setting.

This is an exciting time for DKH and our community. We have not only partnered with an excellent health care organization, but one that respects and appreciates the unique aspect of an independent community hospital and its value to the community it serves. Collaborative efforts on several fronts are well underway and as new specialty care providers and services become available in our service area and at our hospital through this partnership, we will be sure to keep you informed. Rest assured, however, that nothing has changed with regard to the Day Kimball Medical Group providers and other providers on Day Kimball Hospital’s medical staff as a result of this partnership. Patients will continue to have access to these providers in the same way that they always have, and they will remain an incredibly valued and essential part of Day Kimball Healthcare and the services we provide. Working together with a community partner like YNHHS will only serve to strengthen the DKH healthcare network and its ability to provide the best in quality healthcare services to the citizens of northeast Connecticut.

(The context of this article is written on behalf of DKH leadership and formulated with the assistance of Laura Dunn, DKH Director of Marketing & Communications.)