CT healthcare system only one in nation to receive award dubbed our ‘version of the Stanley Cup’

Hartford Courant – Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Staff Report

It only takes four words to sum up the culture of a Connecticut health care system that is the only one in the nation that has been awarded the American Hospital Association 2025 Quest for Quality Prize for Dedication and Commitment to Quality.

Those words are: “you are not alone.”

For Hartford Healthcare CEO and President Jeffrey Flaks, those are four words that describe the system’s culture, care, goals and a future in which it intends to continue “advancing quality and safety and creating results” that will be available to everyone in Connecticut.

“It’s Hartford Healthcare’s version of the Stanley Cup,” Flaks said, of the American Hospital Association award. “It is about being a trusted partner … this is a wonderful moment for us… we are working at being the best and getting better.”

The AHA Quest for Quality Prize, according to the organization, is intended to recognize hospitals and health systems that “demonstrate exceptional leadership and innovation in improving quality and advancing health. It specifically honors organizations committed to providing exceptional, safe, and patient-centered care, and those that partner with communities to address health disparities and improve outcomes.”

Flaks, and Dr. Ajay Kumar, Hartford Healthcare’s chief clinical officer, both credit the system’s 45,000 employees with helping to achieve the measurements and meeting benchmarks that brought the association’s award.

“From my perspective, I am beyond grateful to our 45,000 colleagues … commitment,” said Flaks. “To receive this validation for their effort, it is beyond words to describe how appreciative and grateful I am.”

“Nobody has better people and a better culture,” he said.

Flaks said the review that led to the award included an arduous and “very deep assessment” and a “look at substance and actual results” and a “measurable level of excellence.”

This meant, Kumar said, looking deeply at elements such as patient trust and confidence, how the system is improving health care, assessment of quality, innovations being made, cost consciousness, health equity and more.

It included a “surprise” site visit to validate the elements and and involved interviews of leadership, the system’s board, and community members, Kumar said.

One of the examples of achievements cited by the system included patient safety, which “generated a 70% reduction in hospital-acquired infections between 2015 and 2023. At the end of fiscal 2023, Hartford HealthCare’s Serious Safety Event Rate was an exceptional 0.21 per 10,000 adjusted patient days.”

Further, according to Hartford Healthcare, staff members reported 8,069 safety events in 2023, a 48% increase over that of 2021.

“We highlight colleagues who have experienced a near-miss event and mitigated harm, and we also showcase when bad things happen,” Stephanie Calcasola, who leads quality and safety for the integrated health system.

“You learn from errors and our colleagues believe that, by reporting events, we are putting the patient at the center and the organization is going to address the situation from a systematic point of view,” Calcasola said.

Kumar also cited what he said was the health system’s 70% reduction in hospital-acquired infections over five years, as well as its cost management across the system, which looks at “how do you reduce waste” and said the system has seen a $65 million reduction in its cost of delivering care in nonlabor expense.

“It does not happen by accident; delivering the level of quality Connecticut now (has),” he said, citing health system leadership and employees as the impetus to the success.

For state residents, this means options when thinking “I would want to be in the safest hospital I can be with the highest quality,” he said.

Flaks said while safety and quality are core values, there also is a drive for “continuous improvement, constantly working to be better.” It’s been a 20-year journey, he said, with “every colleague trained in high reliability.”

“This recognition we are receiving is a reflection that culture,” he said.

Another example cited by the health care system was that after setting a goal for its seven hospitals to achieve an A rating in safety from the Leapfrog Group, within five years each of the hospitals earned an A grade. Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit watchdog group that provides hospital safety grades and quality metrics.

In terms of seeking innovation, Hartford HealthCare this year launched a new concierge provision of health care, through what it dubbed “HHC 24/7,” an app that it launched in April and is available to both existing and new Hartford HealthCare patients. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is used about 100 times a day, according to the health system.

Hartford HealthCare also created a new Fairfield Cancer Center, as a Care Partner of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Flaks has said about it, “it really is quite amazing.”

Flaks in noting that 27,000 people a day are served by Hartford HealthCare and sometimes walking into a hospital or health care setting creates “vulnerability” for people. Hartford HealthCare has 500 locations in Connecticut.

Flaks said the words “you are not alone” signifies “we are with you, we are your partner in care.”

“I do believed that it is our culture that has propelled us,” Flaks said.

“It is available for everybody here in Connecticut,” he said, noting Connecticut also is a “place that other parts of the country come to” to receive health care.

According to Hartford HealthCare, in addition to the five Care Now sites, it has 39 Go Health Urgent Care sites, 69 HHC Primary Care sites, nine HHC Medical Group Urgent Care sites and three Amazon/Onemedical sites in Connecticut.

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