CONNECTICUT, USA — Financial problems at three hospitals in the state have complicated their sale to Yale New Haven Health, and last month's cyberattack at Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN) has only worsened the crisis.
More than a year ago, Yale New Haven Health proposed acquiring the three hospitals: Manchester Memorial, Rockville General, and Waterbury Hospital. All three were part of Prospect Medical Holdings. The acquisition would end the ongoing financial crisis, but the state has yet to approve the sale.
State Sen. Saud Anwar is also a physician at Manchester Memorial Hospital and has seen these challenges up front.
"The state government has given them money for the Medicaid patients they have been seeing, so Medicare has advanced the money, but that’s not enough to be able to keep them in a healthy mode right now," said Anwar.
On top of the existing challenges, all three hospitals were hit with a cyberattack last month, knocking down all their medical records. It affected their ability to bill for inpatient and outpatient services, resulting in additional money loss.
Anwar believes an updated system would prevent this from happening again, but another roadblock exists.
"The challenge we have is that if you try to fix an old system and put all the resources into fixing an old system, it would become irrelevant as soon as this transaction moves forward," added Anwar.
Robert Hutchinson, a spokesperson with Yale New Haven Health System, issued a statement:
“We have mounting concerns about the viability of our transaction with Prospect Medical Holdings to acquire substantially all the assets of Waterbury and ECHN hospitals. Our concerns include the deteriorating condition of the Waterbury and ECHN hospitals, particularly in light of the cyber-attack last month, and the State Office of Health Strategy process to review the CON application that we filed last November.
To salvage the acquisition of these community hospitals, we have proposed a multi-party recovery plan. We are engaged in conversations with Prospect about the plan, and we stand ready to engage with the state. We believe that every day that passes without a path forward puts the transaction more at risk.”
Lawmakers now worry about the direct impact this will have on employees and patients.
"I’d heard they were behind electricity bills," added Anwar. "I had heard many of the vendors whether they were the chemicals they use for lab testing; they were behind in some of those things as well."
ECHN said in a statement:
"During the conversation with the governor and members of the legislature, we spoke about some of the challenges facing Prospect Connecticut hospitals particularly following the recent cyberattack. We asked for their support. We hope the state approves the change of ownership application as soon as possible and without onerous conditions. We believe it is critical to sustain local access to healthcare and to preserve jobs in the local community. ECHN’s priority is to provide compassionate, high-quality healthcare to our patients and our community."
The three hospitals will not see financial relief until the sale is finalized. Lawmakers hope this will happen within the next month.
Carmen Chau is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at cchau@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook and X.
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