Final Public Hearing Scheduled for Yale-New Haven Hospital Facility

Officials from CT's Office of Health Care Access will be conducting a final forum with North Haven citizens concerning the Yale-New Haven Hospital Development Wednesday, July 13 at the Senior Center.

The session, scheduled to take place after First Selectman Mike Freda argues for approval of the facility in Hartford on July 6, will allow citizens share their viewpoints on the matter with state officials before a final decision is rendered.

“This hearing will allow the public the opportunity to offer their opinions on the importance of this project to us," said Freda today. "This follow-up hearing in North Haven is a strategically important development for us because it allows our citizens to speak directly to the state to advocate for this medical facility here in town."

Earlier this week, Meriden Mayor Michael Rohde and James Ieronimo, Director of the United Way in Meriden and Wallingford, ran an editorial in the North Haven Citizen criticizing plans for the "medical epicenter", as Freda has called it, slated to be built on Devine Street.

Meriden's MidState Medical Center will oppose the construction of a YNHH branch in North Haven in the Hartford hearing, citing, among other issues, an abundance of emergency medical care in the region.

Next month's session at the Senior Center may provide residents the opportunity to push back against Rohde and Ieronimo's claims.

The facility, as discussed at previous public meetings, would bring a host of services to the town and surrounding area, including a full service emergency room, pediatric, geriatric, and radiology centers. 

The branch is also expected to generate hundreds of jobs in North Haven, and bring economic vitality and spending power to the town.

Money—or at least losing it—is on the mind of the facility's opponents as well. Rohde and Ieronimo, writing in their editorial, said:

"We expect that the Yale site will cost MidState Medical Center millions in revenue and result in jobs moving from Meriden to North Haven, a shift that Meriden cannot currently afford with an 11 percent unemployment rate.

The hearing at the Senior Center will take place between the hours of 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. on July 13.

Stay tuned for more information.