Hartford HealthCare highlights milestones in Manchester, Rockville hospital integration

Hartford Business Journal – Thursday, July 16, 2026
By David Krechevsky

Six months after taking over Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals, Hartford HealthCare on Thursday highlighted two milestones it says will help shape the facilities’ future.

The first was completing the first Community Health Needs Assessment for MMH and Rockville General in seven years. The other was integrating the Epic electronic health record system for both hospitals in what officials described as an unprecedented six-month transition.

Hartford HealthCare held an event in the lobby of Manchester Memorial attended by Gov. Ned Lamont, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, and about 100 state and community officials and hospital staff. It highlighted HHC’s progress in integrating the hospitals since formally acquiring them from the for-profit Prospect Medical Holdings in January, after years of financial struggles under the previous owner.

Dr. Adam Steinberg, president of HHC’s Greater Manchester region, said the two hospitals had formerly operated with electronic medical record systems that could not communicate with one another.

“There were three or more that didn’t interact with each other,” Steinberg said. “Now we have one.”

He attributed the fragmented technology to a lack of investment by Prospect and said the integrated Epic platform now allows patients to access and share their health records through a single system across HHC’s network and with participating providers.

Steinberg added the conversion went beyond installing Epic, noting that HHC simultaneously integrated about 130 software applications.

HHC CEO Jeffrey Flaks said the Epic conversion will allow patients to move seamlessly among the health system’s 540 locations while giving providers immediate access to medical records.

Steinberg also highlighted completion of the hospitals’ first Community Health Needs Assessment since they returned to nonprofit ownership. Federal tax law requires nonprofit hospitals to conduct the assessments every three years.

The assessment has already led to initiatives including mobile health clinics, he said, while also identifying a significantly elevated prostate cancer risk among African American men in the Manchester region. HHC plans to address that finding by leveraging specialists from its Tallwood Urology & Kidney Institute, he said.

The assessment is also driving new partnerships with organizations including Connecticut Foodshare, the Manchester Area Conference of Churches (MACC) Charities and local chambers of commerce to address broader community health needs, Steinberg said.

Flaks said HHC remains on track with its previously announced $300 million investment in the Manchester region, adding that the hospitals have added 134 new members to the medical staff, an 18% increase, while also increasing surgical volume by 8% and patient volume by 6% in the six months since assuming ownership.

“These are all proof points that demonstrate the importance of investing in local healthcare and raising that level of quality, safety, confidence and trust,” Flaks said.

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