A health equity clinic will open at Hartford Hospital in January 2025. This comes thanks to a partnership with the UConn School of Law.
“What we really want is to build a community where there are no inequities in care,” said Hartford Hospital Chair of Medicine, Dr. Suparna Dutta. “We all live in the same area, same place, same country. We should all have the same shot at living a healthy, high-quality life.”
The clinic will provide both medical and legal support to patients with the goal of improving healthcare outcomes for underserved and vulnerable communities.
“The idea of putting a lawyer in the healthcare setting really impacts outcomes by dealing with those issues that clinical experts who are great in the field of medicine do not have expertise in,” said the clinic director Jay Sicklick.
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Sicklick says he brought up the idea approximately a year ago and that there was a need for a service like this in Hartford.
“It’s the largest system in the area,” he said. “It really deals with a significant amount of adult patients who are extraordinarily vulnerable.”
Up to six UConn Law students will volunteer at the clinic each semester for the next three years. They’ll assist with issues surrounding food and housing insecurities and systemic policy issues that may impact patients.
“Proving people with holistic services and representation both on the medical and legal side leads to better outcomes,” said Associate Dean for Experiential Education Jessica Rubin.
Hartford Hospital is funding the clinic. It did not share the cost of this initiative.
