Study Ranks Conn. Low in Home Health Care Quality

A national report has ranked Connecticut in the bottom quarter of states in the country when it comes to home health care quality, according to the Hartford Courant.

The report, which was released by The Commonwealth Fund, shows that the state's three hospital referral regions — Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport — ranked 255th out of 306 regions in the number of home health care patients that improved their ability to walk or move around. Connecticut also ranked low in the percentage of patients whose wounds healed or improved following an operation as well as in the rate at which patients are kept out of hospitals.

The release of the report coincides with Gov. Malloy's proposal to move thousands of patients out of nursing homes and into home-based care over the next four years in order to save money. Recently, however, some of the state's home health care providers have struggled due to cuts to Medicare and a reduction in the amount of private funding received. Stamford-based , which was once the state’s leading nonprofit senior nursing provider, was forced to .