Derby, Conn.-based Griffin Health was given more money by the state Department of Public Health than any other hospital to administer COVID-19 tests to nursing homes, receiving a $137.5 million contract, an investigation by The CT Mirror found.
The hospital struggled financially years before the COVID-19 pandemic, but it eventually earned more than $51 million in COVID-19 testing fees, most of them from the DPH contract, according to the article. That's equal to 25 percent of Griffin Hospital's total reported revenues in 2019.
The Mirror's investigation revealed that after returning about $19 million in Medicare payments to the state and paying $80 million to a lab company, Griffin made about $39 million from the DPH contract. A separate contract with the state comptroller's office resulted in $12.3 million in revenue from COVID-19 testing, bringing its total revenue from COVID funds to more than $51 million.
Physician One received the second-largest amount of money from the DPH, with $23.5 million.
The DPH told the Mirror that Griffin Hospital received more than other hospitals because it serviced more than 60 percent of the state's 213 long-term care facilities.
"Griffin Hospital provided on-site testing for nursing homes throughout the state at a larger scale than any other hospital or Care Partner," department spokesperson Christopher Boyle told the Mirror. "Griffin Hospital's administrative rates were not significantly higher than any other hospital, nor were Griffin's rates the highest."
Read more about the investigation here.