Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for all your hard work in advancing our mission of education, research, and patient care. This week I had the opportunity to visit Stamford Hospital for a meet-and-greet with their CEO as part of my goal to see what we might learn from health system colleagues across the state. Stamford Hospital is impressive. Two things I took away were, first, that like us they are very focused on safety for employees, patients and visitors. They have installed a security scanner in their main entrance lobby, but have done so in a tasteful manner that isn’t off-putting for patients. It was helpful to see the scanner in action, since we just concluded a security study at UConn Health and are looking at ways to decrease the points of access and to increase security. The second learning was that they are focused on helping people in their community who may lose Medicaid access under the new work requirement rules beginning in 2027. I will be asking for more information on the pilot they have with the city of Stamford. 

Switching gears, at UConn Health this week I began preparing for an upcoming meeting at the end of August, where we will establish the governance of our Healthcare AI institute, which we will launch this year. Before I say I few words about the institute, I want to remind everyone of where it fits into our strategic priorities. As you can see from the graphic below, along with other initiatives, the AI institute will help us accomplish our goal to improve quality and thrive financially in the years ahead.

Just as a reminder of the institute’s goals:

The primary goals of the Institute are to advance UConn Health’s mission by:

• Systematically assessing unmet operational and clinical needs within UConn Health
• Identifying and evaluating existing AI companies whose solutions address those needs
• Facilitating structured pilots and integration of selected companies within UConn Health
• Deploying capital to invest in and support the most promising of these validated companies

I am excited that we have posted for the leader of the institute and I will keep you updated.

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Late summer comes with the annual tradition of our student white coat ceremonies, an early milestone in the careers of our incoming classes of medical and dental students. The presentation of the white coats symbolizes the transformation from student to healthcare provider. I’m happy to say our Classes of 2030 have arrived. Please join me in welcoming them.

I invite you to read more about the medical white coat ceremony and the dental white coat ceremony on UConn Today.

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The patient letter I’d like to share with you this week is actually a pair of letters from the same patient, praising the care she received across multiple areas (edited for name accuracy and privacy):

Dear Dr. Agwunobi,

I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for the exceptional care, professionalism, and compassion shown by your emergency room staff and ICU staff. From the moment I arrived at the hospital every member of the team treated me with kindness, respect, and concern. The staff remained calm, attentive, and reassuring during my entire visit in the ER and ICU. The staff showed expertise and clear communication throughout.

Please extend my heartfelt thanks to all involved in my care. They have made a lasting impression and I am grateful for the outstanding service they provided. The following members were exceptional; Dr. [Adami], Dr. [Kanaan] (ICU), Nurse Suzanne P (ICU), Dr. Kumar (ICU), Dr. Richard Kamin (ED), Dr. [Kaloudis] (ED), and Nurse Nicholas (ED).

Dear Dr. Agwunobi,

I am writing to express my sincere appreciation for the exceptional care I received at your hospital.

Dr. Melissa Henretta, a Gynecologic Oncologist at the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UConn Farmington campus has demonstrated exemplary professionalism. Her entire team showed genuine compassion.

Throughout my experience with Dr. Henretta, I have witnessed a physician and team who consistently exceed my expectations for care. Her outstanding clinical expertise and genuine kindness ensure that I was heard, respected, and supported throughout a very challenging time for me and my family.

The team possesses an uncommon ability to balance expert care with empathy. Dr. Henretta took the time to explain in detail all the complicated medical information to me and my many family members. The team’s thoughtful communication and advocacy fostered trust and comfort.

The team continually coordinated care amongst multiple specialists while providing emotional support. They approached every situation with professionalism, integrity, and care. Dr. Henretta went above and beyond for me, as I’m sure she does for all of her patients. She exemplifies the highest standards of medicine. Her leadership, clinical judgement, and compassion make her an invaluable asset to your hospital.

I would like to include some of the team members that I personally met and received excellent care from: [Yvon] (Scheduling), Nurse Kathleen (“Kay”), Nurse Maisey, Samantha [Olesnevich] (PA), and Meghan Paino (APRN).

It’s always very telling, and of course, remarkably gratifying, when someone takes the time to not only to write this kind of letter, but to spend the time on recounting meaningful details from the experience and making the effort to thank people by name.

I too would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Henretta, Yvon Febus, Kathleen Manion, Maisey Ayer, Samantha Olesnevich, Meghan Paino, Dr. Alexander Adami, Dr. Jennifer Kanaan, Suzanne Paranzino, Dr. Swarup Kumar, Dr. Richard Kamin, Dr. Paul Kaloudis, and Nicholas Sturgis. I’d also like to thank all the others not mentioned by name who contributed to this patient’s care.

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One more letter I’d like to share this week is from George Moses, operations manager for Facilities Development and Operations, to his staff, based on patient feedback about how the excellence of our Environmental Services Department (which includes custodial and housekeeping services) had a positive impact on her patient experience:

Team:

I want to take a moment to personally thank each of you for the incredible work you do every day. We recently received recognition from a patient who spent time in our hospital and was deeply impressed by the cleanliness and appearance of our facility. She specifically mentioned that from the Emergency Department to the ICU and UT2, the environment was immaculate and that our hospital was the most beautiful she had ever visited. She shared that the clean, thoughtfully maintained environment contributed positively to her healing experience during her stay.

Comments like these remind us that our work goes far beyond cleaning rooms and maintaining facilities. Every hallway, patient room, waiting area, and common space you care for helps create a safe, welcoming, and healing environment for our patients, families, and staff. Your dedication, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence are noticed and appreciated, even when you may not hear it every day.

I am extremely proud of what this team accomplishes. The positive impact you make on patient care is evident in feedback like this, and it reflects the professionalism and pride you bring to your work each day.

Thank you for your hard work, teamwork, and unwavering commitment to excellence. Please take pride in this recognition because you have earned it. Please share with your teams!

Sincerely,

George K. Moses

Additionally, George’s director, J.J. Odom, shares that his building and grounds team achieved high Press Ganey scores for room and bathroom cleanliness in the second quarter, surpassing both the state and national averages.

I’d like to thank all the members of our environmental services team for their outstanding work.

And thank you, to all reading this, for the work you do every day.

Andrew C. Agwunobi, MD, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
EVP for Health Affairs
UConn Health

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Dear Dr. Andy

Why can we not have an efficient version of Epic that correlates with Hartford Hospital?

I’ve shared this with leaders in IT. It is difficult to compare UConn Health directly with Hartford Hospital because our organizations differ in size, structure, and patient populations. That said, we are continuously improving our Epic environment to better support our clinicians, staff, and patients.

As Ingrid Napoletano, AVP for IT clinical systems, explains, we successfully implemented our most recent Epic upgrade in June and are preparing for our next upgrade this fall. We intentionally take a measured approach to new releases to ensure stability while still benefiting from Epic’s latest innovations.

In the meantime, we are working on some areas of improvement, such as login times and system performance enhancements. And we should be proud that we have earned Epic Honor Roll recognition three consecutive times and been recognized by Epic for maintaining exceptionally low system downtime. These achievements reflect our commitment to providing a reliable, high-quality experience for our patients and care teams.

I invite you to learn more about what we’re working on, what we’ve accomplished, what’s to come with our electronic health record, and how partnerships within our organization can help us get the most out of Epic for our collective benefit.

Thank you for the question.

Have something you want to ask Dr. Andy? Submit your question on The Hub.(opens in new tab)

Hub Highlights

With fall sports nearing, we tackle concussions and sports neurology on the Healthy Rounds Podcast.

Speaking of fall sports, read a message from Coach Candle about complimentary football tickets!

Our medical school and a TIP company are teaming up to explore precision medicine treating pancreatic cancer.

Learn why the U.S. Military is backing research happening in our dental school labs.

Read how we’re teaming with Yale to train our state’s next generation of researchers of kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases.

Plus, get a peek into our continual efforts to enhance Epic, including how you can help. Go to The Hub now for these and other announcements and features and stay up to date with the latest UConn Health news!