Deaths from cancer and heart disease are higher in parts of CT. How a health system is fighting that

[Excerpt from feature article by Helen Bennett, May 28, 2026]

For one Connecticut doctor, now is the best time to make sure you have a doctor who is helping you take care of your health.

That doctor is Greg Haller, and what he means is that anyone who is thinking “I really should have a doctor,” should realize that “now is always a good time to start getting involved with your health, now is always the best time to start making changes.”

Haller, who works at the Winsted Health Center, knows that taking action is sometimes easier said than done. He recognizes, he said, that life can get in the way, and people often have myriad reasons for not making, or keeping, health care appointments.

Haller works at the health center as part of the Hartford HealthCare Rural Residency Program, done in conjunction with Quinnipiac University’s Frank Netter School of Medicine. He is one of four residents in the program, which is growing and will have eight such residents next year.

Haller wants his patients, now and in the future, to know the care he provides is always intended to help people be healthy and happy. He is in the first group of the residents assigned to the program and has been working there for about a year. It followed a year of residency at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport.

During the past year, and as of the end of April, Haller said they have added 391 new patients at the health facility, which sits along the main road through Winsted, conveniently close to the Route 8 exit that brings traffic into the city. In an example of the difference the resident doctors make, Haller noted the residents working under primary care doctors can take over some of the patient load there, seeing up to 16 patients a day.

Definitions of what constitutes a rural town in Connecticut can vary, but DataHaven notes that the Connecticut Office of Rural Health “uses a definition based on population and population density” and per that office, “a town in Connecticut is considered rural if it has a population of up to 10,000 and a population density of no more than 500 people per square mile.” That definition includes 68 towns statewide, according to DataHaven, an organization that by collects and shares data on well-being, equity, and quality of life in Connecticut.

A 2025 report on rural health done by the state notes that rural hospitals “continue to operate under financial strain: according to Medicare cost reports filed by the state’s hospitals, uncompensated care costs totaled more than $271 million in 2024.”

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