Hospital owners: Financial situation is ‘dire’
The presidents of two Connecticut hospitals owned by Prospect Medical Holdings told a gathering of state legislators Tuesday that their financial situation is dire, that they are struggling to pay bills and, if a deal to sell Prospect’s Connecticut hospitals to Yale New Haven Health is not approved, the facilities may not remain financially viable, according to people in attendance.
Waterbury Hospital Chief Executive Officer Justin Lundbye and Eastern Connecticut Health Network President Deborah Weymouth met privately with Gov. Ned Lamont before gathering with about 30 concerned lawmakers from Waterbury, Manchester and surrounding towns. Prospect owns Waterbury, Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals.
Hospital executives painted a gloomy picture of their finances and urged the state to move quickly on approving a sale of the facilities to Yale New Haven Health, according to legislators who were present at the meeting.
Yale announced in 2022 that it had signed an agreement with Prospect to acquire the hospitals. Completion of the sale and a certificate of need is pending. Hospital officials have said they are worried about the length of time the state has taken to review and approve the sale.
Sen. Saud Anwar, who with
Majority Leader Jason Rojas organized the legislators’ meeting Tuesday, said hospital executives expressed concern about their “dire” financial situation and are having trouble paying vendors and physicians under contract to provide care at the facilities.
Prospect Medical facilities were recently hit by a cyberattack.
“They were talking about almost getting to the point where they’re having difficulty paying for bed linens, things like that,” said Anwar, D-south Windsor, who is co-chair of the legislature’s Public Health Committee and a physician under contract at Manchester Memorial. “Between the cyberattack and the current financial situation … they are going through a very significant financial challenge.”
Representatives from Yale New Haven Health and Prospect Medical also attended the lawmakers’ meeting, which was held in the Old Appropriations Room on the third floor of the Capitol.
determined the dog died on or about Sept. 4, but authorities say the trainer sent photos that made the owner believe the training was continuing after that date.
North Reading police received a report from the owner on Sept. 16 that the trainer never returned the dog from Haddam, a small town near the Lower Connecticut River Valley, “following an agreed-upon training period,” Zimmerman said.
The woman accused of the training scam will appear before a district court clerk magistrate at a later date. North Reading police decided to seek a summons based on the investigations into the case.
Four other dogs were recovered and safely returned to their owners in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. North Reading police and Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have been in contact regarding the case.