The Rojas ReportAHA Intelligence

Kurt A. Barwis

President & CEO | AHA Board of Trustees Member | Bristol Health

8 Red Flags
Affiliations
  • •Board of Trustees — Three-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2024 (elected Aug. 2023).
  • •AHA Regional Policy Board 1 — Delegate, 2019–2021.
  • •AHA Advisory Group on Hospitals Against Violence — Member (dates unclear).
  • •AHA Grassroots Champion Award — 2017 recipient; CHA CEO Jennifer Jackson called him an exceptional advocate for hospital priorities including eliminating Connecticut's hospital tax and raising Medicaid rates.
  • •Board of Governors — Currently serving; ACHE is an international professional society of 48,000+ healthcare executives.
  • •ACHE Regent for Connecticut — 2016–2019.
  • •ACHE Fellow (FACHE) — Board-certified in healthcare management.
  • •ACHE Awards: Service Award (2012), Distinguished Service Award (2015), Exemplary Service Award (2018).
Financial / Compensation
  • •Licensed beds: 154 (small community hospital).
  • •Annual ED visits: ~40,000.
  • •Operating revenue (FY 2019): $149.3 million.
  • •Operating revenue (~FY 2017): ~$174 million (per IRS 990 filing).
  • •Bristol Health operates approximately 20 locations across central Connecticut. In 2019 it rebranded from "Bristol Hospital and Healthcare Group" to "Bristol Health."
  • •Bonus structure: Up to 35% of base salary if all performance targets are met (described as uncommon to hit fully).
  • •Compensation committee: Chaired by board member Blum; governed by IRS rules requiring all members to be independent with no financial connection to the hospital. External benchmarking process used.
  • •At ~$750K–$828K total, Barwis's compensation is high relative to Bristol Health's ~$150–174M revenue and its persistent operating losses. For context, CEOs of systems with $1B+ revenue often earn $1–3M, meaning Barwis's pay-to-revenue ratio significantly exceeds the norm.
Lobbying and Political
  • •Barwis is a registered lobbyist in Connecticut — an unusual credential for a sitting hospital CEO and noteworthy for an AHA board member. His lobbying registration appears to be connected to his role advocating on behalf of Bristol Health and the broader hospital industry at the state legislature.
  • •Hospital tax fight (2011): Barwis publicly confronted Governor Dannel Malloy, telling him Bristol Hospital would lose ~$4M over two years under Malloy's proposed 5.5% provider tax. Malloy's budget would have eliminated $83M in state funding hospitals receive for treating the uninsured/underinsured. Barwis called the proposal "shameful," saying "it's not like hospitals are making money hand over fist."
  • •Hospital tax lobbying (2017): Bristol Hospital was part of a coordinated CHA lobbying effort against the Connecticut hospital tax structure. Barwis was named CHA's 2017 Grassroots Champion specifically for his advocacy on eliminating the hospital tax and raising Medicaid rates.
  • •Certificate of Need (CON) reform (2014): Barwis was involved in legislative discussions around expanding CON oversight of hospital ownership changes. He publicly stated he hoped any legislation wouldn't create an imbalance between for-profit and nonprofit hospitals — at a time when Bristol Hospital was itself in talks with Tenet Healthcare (a for-profit chain partnered with Yale New Haven Health System) about a potential acquisition.
  • •This award explicitly recognizes lobbying effectiveness — it is given for "exceptional leadership in advocating for hospital priorities" at the federal and state levels. Barwis's receipt of this award confirms he is deeply embedded in the AHA's legislative advocacy apparatus.
  • •No individual political contribution records for Kurt Barwis were surfaced in web search results. Specific searches of the FEC database, Connecticut SEEC eCRIS portal, OpenSecrets, or FollowTheMoney would be needed to confirm or deny personal giving. Connecticut has strict campaign finance laws that may limit hospital executive giving to state candidates.
  • •As Chairman of the CHA CEO Forum (since 2010) and member of CHA's finance committees, Barwis occupies a position that directly interfaces with Connecticut's legislative process on hospital funding, Medicaid rates, and the hospital tax — issues where CHA spends significant lobbying dollars.

Pattern Summary

Kurt A. Barwis represents a specific archetype on the AHA Board: the small-system CEO who ascends through sustained association service rather than institutional scale.