Letter to the Editor: Thursday, July 24, 2025

Northwell’s affiliation will help Sharon Hospital

In your July 17 article on a University of North Carolina study, you reference possible Medicaid cuts or closings at Sharon Hospital. Your article says Sharon Hospital was included on a national list of endangered rural hospitals because it had experienced three years of negative profit margins. Although Sharon Hospital technically qualifies to be included in the list, its new affiliation with Northwell Health wasn’t taken into account, and therefore, actually, Sharon Hospital should not be considered to be in the same boat as these other hospitals.

The Sharon Community should know that:

1. Northwell has one of the strongest balance sheets of any major U.S. hospital systems in the U.S.

2. As part of their agreement with the State of Connecticut, Northwell has agreed to maintain essential services at Sharon Hospital, including maintaining and even expanding maternity services for a minimum of 5 years.

3. Northwell has agreed to invest up to $1 billion in the Nuvance hospital system.

4. Northwell has to appoint independent monitors for all of Nuvance’s hospitals and to hold public meetings for the next 5 years where the public can make their voices known.

Victor Germack

Vice President

Save Sharon Hospital

Salisbury, Conn.