Progress and promises from Sharon Hospital

SHARON — At a State of the Hospital presentation to community members on Wednesday, May 16, Sharon Hospital President Peter Cordeau gave a characteristically upbeat picture of where the care center has come from and where it’s headed.

The talk, held at Sharon Town Hall, recapped the past nine months, since Sharon Hospital joined the New York State-based Health Quest group.

Cordeau said in the presentation that Health Quest has four hospitals and 1,200 aligned physicians. That group will nearly double when the group joins with the Western Connecticut Health Network, which has three hospitals and 1,400 aligned physicians. Those three hospitals are in New Milford, Danbury and Norwalk. 

Health Quest has Northern Dutchess Hospital, Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Putnam Hospital Center and Sharon Hospital. 

Cordeau said he is particularly excited about the possibilities for care that the merger will create. 

“This will allow our patients access to two tertiary care hospitals, Danbury and Vassar,” he said. 

And the scale of the combined medical center makes services (including ones as complex and essential as organ transplants) available in a way they could not be with a smaller system.

A retired doctor in the audience, Michael Tesoro of Sharon, noted that his patients more frequently requested the hospitals in the eastern part of the state, specifically St. Francis and the University of Connecticut system. 

Cordeau said that patients can always choose what hospital they want; the mission of the new combined health-care system will be to “provide a product you want” so that patients will begin to request the western Connecticut options.

A certificate of need must be filed with the state. It could take 10 months for that to be approved. It’s possible the merger will happen in early 2019.

Major changes specifically in Sharon include the expansion of the senior behavioral health unit.

“This is our busiest unit by far,” Cordeau said, “and only one of five in the state.”

The existing facility in the Sharon Hospital building will be expanded and reconfigured. A nursing station will be created that is centrally located, so staff can watch all the rooms. Demolition will begin in June, Cordeau said, and is expected to be finished by the first quarter of 2019.

The emergency department is also getting upgrades. Of particular concern to local patients had been the high cost of ED care when EmCare was the contracted service provider. 

Emergency care is now provided by Sharon Hospital and Health Quest. The cost has gone down for patients, confidence is rising and numbers are up again, Cordeau said.

The pain management department has been so effective that there is a huge demand from Dr. Elvis Rema, who at present is only available one day a week.  Pain management offerings are likely to increase, especially as there seems to be a link between patients having surgery at Sharon Hospital and patients knowing that local pain management care is available.

New general practitioners have been added and Dr. Kathleen Mantaro and Dr. Kristie Schmidt still have space for new patients. Health Quest’s Dr. Glenn Loomis, president of Health Quest Medical Practice, said that the overall needs assessment for the area warrants eight primary care doctors.

Cardiology services have been very well-subscribed, however. Dr. Donald Soucier had been the only cardiologist at Sharon for a decade, until the Health Quest merger. Patients now have access to multiple new heart specialists.

Another area that Cordeau said has been a major step forward is the use of technology. Sharon now has a special unit where staff members can monitor patient activity at other hospitals via remote television screens. This has allowed better care for patients at those larger hospitals. Nurses can’t always see what’s going on in each room. The monitors at Sharon can see if, for example, a patient is standing up who shouldn’t be, or a patient who is experiencing pain or anxiety. A nurse can be summoned to check in on those rooms. 

Cordeau also said that all patient electronic medical records are now shared between all the Health Quest hospitals and will soon be shared by physicians in the group. 

Sharon is also using a tele-health platform for its stroke program. Neurologists from Yale, using a video connection, can assess patients from New Haven in the emergency department at Sharon.  

Loomis said that Health Quest is also piloting tele-health visits in a few of its primary care offices and plans on having tele-health capabilities in all of its practices by the end of the year.