UConn Health Center plan draws concerns about cost, lack of options

A plan before Connecticut lawmakers calls for building a $475 million hospital to replace the outdated John Dempsey Hospital and creating a "University Hospital" with campuses in Hartford and Farmington. Hartford Hospital would take responsibility for any future deficits the UConn Health Center runs, but the state would pay the bonding costs of a new hospital and an estimated $13 million a year in labor costs. Some lawmakers expressed excitement at the concept and emphasized the proposal's potential for spurring economic growth in the area, but others question the nature of the proposal and whether it was the only solution to the Health Center's problems.