Get Involved
Petition the Connecticut State Office of Health Strategy
The issue:
Day Kimball Healthcare (Putnam, CT) is in the process of being acquired by Covenant Health. This is happening with little to no community input. Day Kimball Healthcare would forever relinquish all assets and local control to Covenant Health of Tewksbury, Massachusetts.
We do not want religion to replace sound medical practice and a scientific basis for healthcare decisions. As a Catholic organization, Covenant Health will impose restrictions and prohibitions on certain aspects of the care they will deliver. These restrictions will negatively impact reproductive health care, gender affirming health care, and end-of-life care, among others. Day Kimball Healthcare employees won’t even be allowed to refer patients to those who will provide this care.
The more than 1,000 local DKH employees likely will lose insurance coverage for religiously prohibited services.
We petition the Connecticut State Office of Health Strategy to deny the Certificate of Need for this acquisition
Print letters to sign and mail to your elected officials!
Print Handouts to distribute locally
As a hint on the brochure, you will notice a faint line at the top of the inside page between the “Emergency” and “Community concerns” sections. If you fold the right side of the paper to meet that line, then fold the left side over it, everything comes out as it should.
Encourage organizations of which you are a member to write to the
Office of Health Policy, CON, to object to the sale.
Prepare for the Public Hearing
The Department of Public Health, Office of Health Strategy, is considering DKH-Covenant's application for a Certiicate of Need. Sometime in the next few months it will call a public hearing to allow the community to voice its objections or support for the acquisition. The hearing will likely be held via Zoom, and individuals will have 3 minutes to state their positions. We welcome and encourage your input. Encourage your family, friends and neighbors to testify.
Some ideas for testifying:
tell your story about the challenges of accessing primary care in NE CT for yourself and your family
if you are person on Medicaid (Husky) would you be able to find reproductive healthcare outside our region? What would it take to find a provider and transportation there?
do you know someone who has been denied care in a hospital bound by the Ethical and Religious Directives? Someone who was not provided with gender-affirming medical or behavioral healthcare? Someone who was refused a tubal ligation or vasectomy? Someone who was required to accept artificial nutrition in dying although having requested it not be provided? Tell their story.
what if your primary provider could not refer you for reproductive health services? Where would you go?
why does it matter to you that DKH remains owned, operated and guided by members of our community?
Tell us more ideas and we will share them!