HARTFORD, Conn. _ Medical regulators and community members were concerned when Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., a Los Angeles-based, for-profit hospital chain, applied for approval in 2015 to buy Waterbury, Manchester and Rockville hospitals.
Some of Prospect's hospitals in California had been sanctioned for medical errors, and Waterbury Hospital, which was losing money and suffering from one of the state's highest rates of patient readmission rates, was already struggling to serve its large Medicaid population. Prospect fired back, touting annual earnings of over $3 billion, and saying its ability to attract prominent doctors to its hospitals was a winning formula. The sale was approved in July 2016.
Now, with state-mandated conditions on community engagement and accountability set to expire in October, and the company facing sanctions for a series of lapses in health care, doubts about Prospect's capacity and commitment, particularly in Waterbury, are deepening among local clergy, health insurance reform groups, community organizers and residents.
"Holding on to accountability to the community is crucial," said Jill Zorn, senior policy officer for the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut.
Prospect Medical pointed out, in responses to The Hartford Courant, that Waterbury Hospital and the Eastern Connecticut Health Network, which includes Manchester, have been among the most scrutinized health systems in the state.
But three years after Prospect Medical took over, significant questions remain.
The breakdowns in care included a suicide and suicide attempt involving two patients at Waterbury Hospital in March and two incidents last year at Manchester Hospital _ the death of a woman who had given birth to a stillborn baby, and an infant born with severe neonatal encephalopathy after an emergency C-section was done too late, according to state inspection reports.
Health inspectors cited both Waterbury and Manchester hospitals for conditions that placed patients in "immediate jeopardy," and Waterbury Hospital, which neglected to notify police of the suicide, faces losing federal Medicare funding in August if it can't convince state and federal regulators that lapses in medical care, training and emergency response have been corrected.
While regulators rarely go so far as to cut off all Medicare funding, any financial penalties would be a devastating blow for a hospital that rose from church collection baskets in the late 1800s and grew to be Waterbury's largest employer.
"Are they putting profits before patients? That has been our concern from the beginning," said Pastor Rodney Wade. He is a leader in a group of clergy, community organizers, union representatives and residents in Waterbury that has pressed Prospect for commitments to serving the area's needy population. Calling for the state oversight conditions to be extended for at least a year, the group held a protest rally and march in front of Waterbury Hospital last week.
Kim McLaughlin, executive director of the Naugatuck Valley Project, a community-affairs group that has helped to organize the opposition, said that because Prospect Medical is a for-profit company, the set of conditions dealing with community engagement and local input are critical and should remain.
"The Waterbury community is very loyal and committed to the hospital," said Barbara Cass, chief of the health care quality and safety branch at the Department of Public Health.
"These people want safe care, and they know what that looks like," she said.
In an emailed statement, Prospect Medical said that it has developed relationships with numerous community groups and institutions and has "invested approximately $58 million in the Waterbury and Manchester hospital systems to help improve both their clinical quality and financial performance."
The company said both hospitals "have seen recent gains in publicly reported quality measures."
In 2015 and 2016, "Waterbury Hospital was in severe financial distress. Prospect not only kept the hospital open as an essential community health provider but also preserved hundreds of jobs," the company said.
Prospect's purchase of Manchester and Rockville hospitals "provided millions of additional dollars for improvements and new programs designed to fill unmet community needs," the company said.
