UCHC-AAUP President responds to Kevin Rennie letter to the Editor in the Hartford Courant

Kevin Rennie wrote a letter to the editor in the Hartford Courant with misinformation about UConn Health.  Please see President Elali’s response, on behalf of UCHC-AAUP,  below.

Let’s Ring in the New Year with Facts!

Kevin Rennie’s January 1 column rang in the New Year with convenient misinformation about UConn Health (UCH) and those of us working for the public good at our state’s only public academic medical center. To be clear, UConn Health would be profitable, with employee fringe rates comparable to neighboring institutions, if the State stopped imposing outrageous surcharges ($53m in FY 21) to cover Connecticut’s historic unfunded liability costs. This is the source of the problem.

UConn Health provides essential public access to world-class clinical care for all of Connecticut’s citizens, including those on Medicaid, the underinsured and the uninsured. UCH ultimately generates more than $2.2 billion in statewide economic impact every year.  

 In addition:

• Our researchers are awarded over $100 million in grants annually.
• UCH houses the state’s only public dental clinic.
• Our medical and dental schools train tomorrow’s physicians, dentists, and researchers; the single largest source of Connecticut’s healthcare professionals living and working in the state. 
• UCH provides opportunities for affordable medical and dental education, reducing healthcare delivery disparity.

UConn Health is a public academic healthcare delivery and bioscience hub, part of a bigger picture, addressing crises such as COVID-19 while providing our residents with equal access to health care. Portraying UCH as a burden to the state and employees as greedy is a false narrative from the few intent on union busting and privatization. Enough already. Let’s move forward together to overcome this pandemic and to continue to provide our residents with the excellent, affordable care they deserve. 

Ibrahim Elali, M.D.

UCHC-AAUP President

(The union representing over 600 UConn Health physicians, scientists, and dentists)

P.S. The data included in this letter was obtained from UConn Health.