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Health & Fitness

Bioscience Connecticut: An Investment For A Better Farmington

In my youth, I remember witnessing the rising of the University of Connecticut Health Center from out of a small country farm.

In my youth, I remember witnessing the rising of the University of Connecticut Health Center from out of a small country farm. Now, as the expansion of the Health Center continues to grow, I find myself with the same enthusiasm I had when this project first began in Farmington.

Since its creation, The University of Connecticut Health Center has drastically improved the lives of the people in Connecticut both medically and economically. The number of contributions this institution has made to medical science has improved the lives of so many residents. We also cannot ignore the number of high-paying jobs this facility has created, which has in turn secured our community’s economy.

On Monday, June 11th, I joined Governor Malloy, numerous administrative leaders from Health Center and my colleagues in the General Assembly for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Bioscience Connecticut Initiative, a plan that gives the University Health Center and our local community the economic boost we have all been looking for.

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The main components of this plan include the funding of $864 million for a new patient care tower, a parking garage, and an outpatient center. The funding will also cover the renovating of the John Dempsey Hospital.  

With this creation, there will be 3,000 new construction jobs produced until the construction is completed in 2018 putting people back to work immediately. By 2037, this expansion is projected to bring 16,700 permanent jobs to Connecticut increasing in-state personal income by $4.6 billion and an additional $823 million of revenue for our state.

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This initiative also increases enrollment to the School of Medicine and Dental Medicine by adding an additional 150 seats to the University’s two distinguished programs. A loan forgiveness program has also been created inviting more graduates to practice medicine and dentistry in Connecticut.

After 40 years of being Connecticut’s flagship facility for both medical and dental education, inpatient and outpatient medical care and cutting edge research, I am proud to say that I, along with my colleagues in the legislature, are continuing to make sure the University Health Center obtains all the necessary support it needs to remain a highly developed and competitive facility as we enter the technologically advanced age of the 21st century.

Embracing the bioscience industry in Farmington will provide the people of Connecticut with a higher quality of life and will provide Farmington with higher paying, higher-quality jobs. Since the very beginning of my term as your State Representative I have fully supported and advocated for every initiative that aimed to energize the development of the University of Connecticut Health Center. I did this not only for the facilities benefit, but for the full benefit of the Town of Farmington and its residents. Its time we unleash the full potential of this facility by continuing to make smart investments that will further secure the University of Connecticut Health Center as the leading institution in bioscience research.

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