Is there a solution to the healthcare crisis?

Connecticut has some of the highest and lowest ranked hospitals in the nation. A recent report ranked Sharon, Stamford, and Greenwich Hospital among the highest in the country. Rockville General, Charlotte Hungerford, and Bridgeport Hospital are on the opposite end of the spectrum. These hospitals are ranked based on mortality rate, safety of care, readmissions rate, patient experience, and timely and effective care. Clearly Connecticut has an enormous gap in care.

Bridgeport is about thirty minutes from Greenwich so why are there such disparities in health care between these two hospitals? If we zoom in even closer, to Fairfield and Bridgeport which are neighboring towns, we can see this gap in many other ways. In Fairfield, the median income is $139,000 compared to Bridgeport where it is only $46,000. Life expectancy in Bridgeport stands at 77 years compared to Fairfield which stands at 82 years. Furthermore, Bridgeport has one of the highest infant death rates in the state with 7.3 deaths per 1,000 live births. While the socioeconomic disparities of the region are correlated with the disparate health outcomes, barriers in access to care broaden this gap.