Dear Colleagues,
I hope you are gearing up for a restful long weekend, or that if you are working you find some time to get outside and enjoy the weather.
As you may recall, we have begun a new Project Thrive for fiscal 2027 (July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027). Like last year, Project Thrive is a focused effort to close our budget gap with a combination of cost reductions and revenue enhancement. Two months into the fiscal year, we are tracking toward $18.3 million in savings against our goal of $54.3 million. Put another way, so far, we have identified $18.3 million for the whole year, but we are only realizing (or bringing into the budget) a certain portion of that each month. As the thermometer shows, to date we have realized $2 million, which is estimated to yield $18.3 million by June 30, 2027, if those realized revenues/savings continue at the expected rate. There is a lot more work to do to reach our goal of $54.3 million, but together I know we will be successful.
One example of projected savings is our ongoing voluntary schedule reduction program (VSRP). We are averaging about $33K per pay period in salary savings in fiscal 27 with VSRP through our first five pay periods. Our fiscal 26 goal was to save $500K, and we exceeded that goal with $809K in salary savings. If we maintain the current pace, we are likely to match or exceed last year’s savings in this fiscal year.
With 10 months to go, we are holding bi-weekly meetings to identify and implement new revenue and expense savings ideas that are not already included in our budget.
Monday we are observing Labor Day, the day our country pays tribute to the contributions of the American worker. It’s a fitting time to acknowledge the contributions of all of you who make our organization thrive. None of the great things we have accomplished and will continue to accomplish could take place without you. I also want to thank our unions for their advocacy for our employees and for the constructive relationship with management.
Meanwhile, just in time for Labor Day comes news from our medical school’s Department of Public Health Sciences. Professor Jenn Cavallari co-directs the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW), a joint interdisciplinary initiative of UConn Health, Storrs, and the University of Massachusetts Lowell funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Under what was a five-year “CPH-NEW IV” grant, she has received a supplemental sixth year of funding to continue her work in the area of work-related safety and health hazard protections and worker well-being. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Cavallari.
I also have some inspiring news from our dental school to share. Two second-year students, Asonyu Nshanji (center left in photo) and Faith Joy Kollie (center right), are back from Liberia, where they completed a five-day clinical internship and led oral health workshops. This is particularly noteworthy because dental resources are extremely scarce in Liberia. I invite you to read their eye-opening account of their experience on UConn Today.
It’s hard to believe, next week it will be 25 years since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
To commemorate this tragic event, UConn is holding a University-wide remembrance ceremony in Storrs next Friday at noon. It will be available via livestream so all UConn campuses can observe. Please find additional details on UConn Today. The livestream link also will be available on The Hub.
Another important date upcoming, albeit of less historical significance: I’d like to remind you to please plan to join me and members of my senior leadership team for our next town hall, Wednesday, Sept. 16, at noon, either in-person in Keller Auditorium or virtually (link to come as we get closer). As always, we encourage your questions and invite you to submit them in advance to thquestion@uchc.edu. I look forward to seeing you there.
This week’s patient letter tells of some dedicated patients of Dr. Marti Rothe in dermatology (edited for length and privacy):
My husband and I have been patients of Dr. Rothe for many years. My son and his family are also patients. Dr Rothe has “saved our lives” many times and I don’t say that lightly. We have moved over the years from CT to RI to NY and back to RI but will never miss our scheduled 6 month appointments with Dr. Rothe from wherever we are living. Thank you, Dr. Rothe!
This remarkable commitment to traveling from other states to continue seeing Dr. Rothe is a very telling testimony about her care. Thank you to Dr. Rothe, and to all our clinicians and support staff in dermatology, for creating this type of care environment!
Thank you for all you do, and happy Labor Day.
Andrew C. Agwunobi, MD, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
EVP for Health Affairs
UConn Health
Dear Dr. Andy
I would like to ask why the police park with the general public. The other day, I was given a ticket for a traffic offense, and this ruined my day, but then, when I saw the officer again getting in his car just a few spaces away from me, I became triggered and irritable again. Shouldn’t the police have to park at their police station?
The frustration is understandable. I’ve shared this with our leaders in University Safety. Generally, officers will park in an employee lot for one of two reasons: (1) They are responding to a call in the area, or (2) They are maintaining a visible presence on our campus.
As Deputy Police Chief Justin Gilbert explains, our officers are encouraged to be out in the community engaging with the public they serve. This will position them in various locations throughout our campus rather than have them waiting by the police department to respond to a call.
Thank you for your question and for your understanding.
Have something you want to ask Dr. Andy? Submit your question on The Hub.(opens in new tab)
Hub Highlights
Some of our nurses collected school supplies and delivered them to an elementary school in Meriden.
Dr. Margaret Callahan explains the promise of cancer immunotherapy on the latest Healthy Rounds Podcast.
Our latest UConn Health Minute for CPTV shows our advanced technology in radiation oncology.
Visit the Hub Now(opens in new tab)
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Back from a clinical internship in Liberia, two dental students share their experience.
We’re streamlining patient transfers with our new Capacity Management Center.
Find out who from our faculty is now a Hall of Famer. Go to The Hub now for these and other announcements and features and stay up to date with the latest UConn Health news!
