WCHN Receives $1 Million Gift to Endow First Primary Care Chair

DANBURY, CT — Western Connecticut Health Network has announced it has received $1 million which it will use to endow a chair to strengthen the quality of primary care across the state.

The Neligan-Safford Endowed Chair will be funded by Dr. Eric and Regina Moskow and family, and be the first chair in primary care at WCHN. Moskow is a primary care physician, and health care entrepreneur. The Neligan-Safford Endowed Chair in Primary Care will be WCHN’s 13th overall endowed chair.

The Moskows' gift comes amid a statewide primary care shortage. Connecticut currently needs 149 primary care providers to meet the recommended population-to-physicians ratio, which was established to improve community health standards.

"We are deeply appreciative of the Moskow family’s generous gift which will have a profound and lasting impact on our health system for generations to come," said John M. Murphy, MD, president and CEO of WCHN, in a release. "Studies show that primary care providers serve as the gateway to healthy lives for people while improving outcomes and reducing hospitalizations. With this newly established chair, WCHN will be better prepared to recruit, train, and retain the very best providers who will deliver cutting-edge care to our patients."

The Neligan-Safford Endowed Chair in Primary Care is named in honor of Patrick Neligan, MD and Theodore Safford, Jr., MD. These late primary care providers mentored Dr. Moskow early in his career.

"As a long-standing advocate for affordable and accessible health care, and member of the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, I believe access to primary care is fundamental to good health. I applaud Dr. Moskow for creating the Neligan-Safford Endowed Chair in primary care in support of WCHN’s innovative programming and as a means to further enhance primary care across western Connecticut,” said United States Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, in a release.