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September 30, 2024 / 2024 Power 25 Health Care

2024 Power 25 Health Care: Jeffrey Flaks

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Jeffrey Flaks is one of the most influential healthcare leaders in Connecticut, and he’s been a major cheerleader not just of Hartford but the state as a whole.

He’s been pushing for Connecticut to be considered a national leader in health care.

In an op-ed published earlier this year, Flaks argued the state has the “technology, the tools and the talent to showcase Connecticut as the health care capital of the nation.”

He pointed out statistics, including that America’s Health Rankings ranks Connecticut No. 4 in the nation for overall health.

A few months after penning the op-ed, in June, Flaks joined the board of AdvanceCT, a nonprofit economic development organization that works to attract companies to the state.

Flaks, who has been with HHC since 2004, has helped oversee a gradual transformation of the system into a much larger, decentralized organization with hospitals, physician practices, surgical centers and urgent care facilities spread throughout the state.

Efforts to coordinate that care statewide are centered in Hartford, at HHC’s new downtown headquarters, which serves as a node for scheduling, imaging, electronic health records and other technology in one location.

Flaks oversees a statewide health system that recorded $5.4 billion in operating revenue in fiscal 2022, which represented 34.6% of the operating dollars collected by all Connecticut health systems combined.

HHC is the second-largest health system in Connecticut, behind Yale New Haven Health.

With its 2019 purchase of Bridgeport-based St. Vincent’s Medical Center, HHC made a big play in Fairfield County, investing millions to renovate the aging facility. It’s also been aggressive in purchasing physician practices and surgical centers, which has, at times, drawn the ire of competitors, including Trinity Health Of New England, and patient consumer groups.

A key focus for Flaks in the last few years has been on partnerships and innovation.

In June, Hartford HealthCare announced plans to expand its relationship with Manhattan-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, including building a new cancer center in Fairfield.

This past spring, HHC and medical technology company GE HealthCare extended a partnership that will enable the health system to frequently upgrade its imaging devices to the latest technology.

Many of the new imaging systems include artificial intelligence and machine-learning software, which will enhance clinical expertise, according to HHC.

HHC has also signed deals with Google Cloud and One Medical, the Amazon-owned subscription-based primary care provider that has agreed to open at least five new offices in Connecticut.

Hartford HealthCare has also recently announced workforce development partnerships with a number of local colleges to fund and support training for in-demand positions, like nurses.

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