Welcome to Connecticut's Health Center
The University of Connecticut Health Center is a vibrant organization composed of the School of Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, John Dempsey Hospital, the UConn Medical Group,
UConn Health Partners and University Dentists. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education
in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. The Health Center's 206-acre campus is situated around a wooded hilltop in the beautiful, historic community of
Farmington. From this vantage point, the skyline of Hartford, the capital of Connecticut, can be seen about eight miles to the east. The University's main campus is in Storrs, about 30
miles east of Hartford. With approximately 5,000 employees, the Health Center is Connecticut's 16th largest employer and an important contributor to the local and regional economy.
Health Care Services
Through John Dempsey Hospital (204 general acute care beds and 20 nursery beds), the Health Center provides specialized and routine inpatient and outpatient services. John Dempsey
Hospital has long been regarded as the premier facility in the region for neonatal intensive care and high-risk maternity. It is also widely recognized for its comprehensive
cardiovascular, cancer and musculoskeletal services. Additionally, John Dempsey Hospital is home to the only Emergency Department in Connecticut's fast-growing Farmington Valley.
Also offered are a wide range of ambulatory and primary care services on the Health Center campus in Farmington and in physician offices conveniently located in West Hartford, Simsbury and
East Hartford. The UConn Medical Group is the largest medical practice in Greater Hartford, offering patients access to health care services from more than 350 Health Center physicians in more
than 50 specialties.
In October 2007, John Dempsey Hospital was honored with a 2007 Premier | CareScience Select Practice National Quality Award for superior patient outcomes in both quality and
efficiency. John Dempsey Hospital was one of 49 hospitals nationally, the top 1 percent of acute inpatient facilities, recognized with the Select Practice Award.
In March 2007, the Health Center was named one of the nation’s top 100 hospitals in the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals®: National Benchmarks for Success. It was one of only 15 hospitals
nationwide recognized in the major teaching hospital category. The award by Solucient, a leading source of healthcare information, is considered one of the hospital industry’s most
prestigious. It uses a score card based on objective statistical measurement of performance in critical areas including clinical outcomes, patient safety, operational efficiency and
growth in patient volume. Winning hospitals display an ability to provide sustainable and reliable health care services to their communities.
In April 2005 and again in May 2006, the Health Center was named a “Top 100 Hospitals®: Performance Improvement Leader” by Solucient. The award was based on statistical analysis of validated
measures and a comparison of rates of improvement over five years. The data included more than 800 elements for more than 6,000 U.S. acute care and specialty hospitals. The analysis showed
that the hospitals identified as performance improvement leaders have lower mortality rates, shorter lengths of stay, and lower expenses compared with peer group hospitals.
The Correctional Managed Health Care (CMHC) program, a
partnership with the Department of Correction, delivers
comprehensive managed health care to State of Connecticut
inmates. Medical, mental health, dental and ancillary
services are provided in all eighteen facilities across the
state (Bridgeport; Brooklyn; Cheshire - Manson Youth,
Webster, Cheshire; Enfield/Somers - Robinson, Willard/Cybulski,
Northern, Osborn, Enfield; Hartford; New Haven; Newtown -
Garner; Niantic - Gates, York; Storrs - Bergin; Suffield -
MacDougall/Walker; Uncasville - Corrigan/Radgowski).
Educational Programs
Dedicated to providing broad educational opportunities in the biomedical sciences, the Health Center offers degree programs in medicine (M.D.), dental medicine (D.M.D.), and
biomedical science (Ph.D.); master's degree programs in public health and dental science; postdoctoral fellowships; residency programs providing specialty training for newly graduated
physicians and dentists; and continuing education programs for practicing health care professionals. Combined degree programs, such as the M.D./Ph.D., D.M.D./Ph.D., Dental Clinical
Specialty/Ph.D. and M.D./M.P.H. are also offered.
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The UConn Health Center is the only academic health center in the nation where a medical school was founded concurrently with a dental school. As the schools took shape during the 1960s,
their planners took advantage of their simultaneous evolution to forge strong links between them. Most notably, medical and dental students share an essentially common curriculum during the
first two years of their four-year degree programs. During this period they study the basic medical sciences together. This experience provides UConn's dental students with an especially
strong foundation in the biomedical sciences that undergird the dental profession. Reflecting its close ties to medicine, the dental school awards its graduates the D.M.D. - doctor of dental
medicine.
Each year in Farmington, about 320 students work toward
their medical doctor's degree and 160 toward their doctor of
medical dentistry degree. Admission to each school is highly
competitive, but both schools offer preferential
consideration to qualified Connecticut residents in their
admissions policies. In the years since the Health Center
graduated its first students in 1972, 1,329 men and women
have received their D.M.D. degree; 2,819 their M.D. degree.
Through a variety of residency programs, the School of Medicine provides postgraduate training for more than 550 newly graduated M.D.s each year. These physicians come from all over the
country to acquire advanced skills in fields such as the surgical specialties, internal medicine, and primary care. Some of the residency training occurs on the Health Center's main campus,
but much of it takes place in community hospitals in Greater Hartford - thus extending the Health Center's influence far beyond Farmington.
Research Programs
Since the Health Center's inception, its administration and faculty have been committed to maintaining high-quality research programs as part of the institution's fabric. This
commitment has enabled the Health Center to recruit distinguished researchers with expertise in neuroscience, molecular biology, molecular pharmacology, biochemistry, cell physiology,
toxicology, and endocrinology, among other fields. The Alcohol Research Center, is one of only 14 such federally supported centers in the nation; the Connecticut Clinical Chemosensory
Research Center, one of five.
Currently, the University is establishing a Center of Innovation that will include its new stem cell institute as well as cutting edge cell biology and genetics research. The new
center, which will be located at 400 Farmington Avenue near the Health Center campus, will unite UConn scientists in a cross-disciplinary, collaborative setting to enhance
Connecticut’s role as a leader in stem cell research and accelerate discoveries that ultimately could lead to therapies treating a broad range of diseases and disorders.
Clinical research is facilitated by the Lowell Weicker General Clinical Research Center and the Clinical Trials Unit. Intellectual endeavors of all kinds are supported by the Lyman Maynard
Stowe Library.
Our Campus
Construction of the Health Center's main campus began in 1966. The main complex occupies a prominent hilltop near I-84 and the Farmington-West Hartford line. The massive, circular
building originally contained about 1.2 million square feet, seven miles of corridors, and 2,000 rooms. Its first major addition, the Andrew J. Canzonetti, M.D. Building, was dedicated
in 1994. It added 94,000 square feet next to John Dempsey Hospital. The Health Center's Academic Research Building opened in 1999. The impressive 11-story structure provides 170,000
square feet of state-of-the-art laboratory space.
The Medical Arts and Research Building (MARB), which opened in 2005, added to the campus a four-story, 99,000 square-foot, facility for care and research related to conditions affecting
bones, joints and connective tissue. The MARB houses an open MRI, the region’s first warm-water SwimEx therapeutic pool, and
physical therapy and rehabilitation services, as well as, clinical services including orthopaedics, rheumatology and neurosurgery. It also is home to the Farmington Surgery Center, a
multi-specialty outpatient surgery center.
All told, the Health Center campus consists of 39 buildings totaling over 2 million square feet.
Revised May 20, 2009. |
