Marshall Miles Interviews-Dr. David Kurish: Nuvance Transformation Plan For Sharon Hospital

Quote from Republican American

"Dr. David Kurish, who has had a private practice in Sharon for 40 years, said Nuvance has not done a good job of recruiting physicians, nor has it been transparent about its finances. When Hirko spoke of plans for increasing telemedicine programs, Kurish said, “People don’t want that; they want doctors.”

Quote from Save Sharon Hospital Facebook page

Nuvance Health, the multi-pronged bi-state health hydra, seems to have precipitated a major showdown about the future of Sharon Hospital with the late September announcement of its “transformation” plan. More than just maternity services are slated for possible elimination. According to Dr. David Kurish, Nuvance plans to do away with the hospital’s intensive care unit or ICU, aiming to replace it with an intermediate level care medical-surgical and telemetry team called a “progressive care unit” (PCU). Terminating either obstetrics or ICU services is subject to approval from the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS).

The failure to maintain an ICU at Sharon, combined with proposed cuts to the surgery department, would have dire implications for all Cornwall residents who may need emergency treatment. First Selectman Gordon Ridgway considers the measures proposed by Nuvance a threat both to economic development and public safety. “The most important thing the town does,” says Ridgway, “is getting people to a hospital quickly: whether it’s women who go into labor or older people who need emergency care.” For example, a school like Hotchkiss that drives part of the local economy relies on a good hospital for its students and families of its faculty.

Selectmen from the Northwest Corner of Connecticut, as well as town supervisors from New York, have joined with state representatives to demand public hearings. Save Sharon Hospital, a group founded in 2018 to fend off an earlier attempt to cut off maternity services by Health Quest, Nuvance’s predecessor, has hired a lawyer and is organizing opposition to Nuvance’s plans. Sample letters protesting the proposed cuts can be found on its website, savesharonhospital.org.