Deborah Weymouth, the chief executive officer of Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals, owned by embattled Prospect Medical Holdings, will take the reins of Waterbury Hospital, the third Prospect facility in Connecticut.
Weymouth will replace Waterbury Hospital CEO Justin Lundbye, who is leaving March 8. Lundbye has been named president of Good Samaritan Hospital in Long Island.
Weymouth, who began her expanded role last week, assumes leadership of Waterbury Hospital as the facility is facing financial turmoil and the sale of the three Prospect-owned hospitals in Connecticut awaits state approval. Yale New Haven Health made a bid in 2022 to purchase the facilities for $435 million but asked Prospect to adjust the purchase price after it was hit with a debilitating cyberattack in August. State approval of the acquisition has been pending for more than a year.
Hospital executives have told legislators that the financial outlook is dire and that, at times, they have had trouble affording items like bed linens.
[YNHH sale ‘paramount’ to CT Prospect hospitals’ survival, CEO says]
As months have passed without state approval, health officials, legislators and local leaders said the hospitals face threat of closure, with the Prospect facilities owing tens of millions of dollars to vendors and physicians, and in taxes.
In state taxes alone, Prospect has neglected to pay $67 million, and state officials filed three liens against the California company.
[Prospect Medical chain owes CT $67 million, tax liens show]
At the hospitals, surgeries have been postponed because health care providers don’t have the needed resources. Contracts with traveling nurses and technicians are in jeopardy and remain in place only on a “week-to-week” basis, physicians at the hospitals said. An anesthesiologist group is suing over nonpayment of more than $3 million. The hospitals were also hit with a cyberattack that crippled operations and set them back further financially.
In November, a spokeswoman for the state’s Office of Health Strategy said the agency had presented a draft settlement agreement to the parties involved in YNHH-Prospect deal, and hospital executives were exchanging proposals with the state. They have not commented since, citing a confidentiality agreement.
In an interview Wednesday, Weymouth declined to discuss what Waterbury HEALTH currently owes to vendors and physicians, but said paying them is a priority.
“It’s of paramount importance that we pay our providers and our vendors. We’re working on a number of plans to make that happen,” she said. “But … our short-term focus is on our quality of care, making some strides in that regard and seeing all things improve.
“Our focus is going to be almost exclusively on quality. We are organizationally going to build on the work that has already been done here at Waterbury. … I feel really good about moving forward with the teams that are in place at [Manchester, Rockville] and Waterbury to address the challenges at hand.”
Lundbye could not be reached for comment.
Lundbye had joined Waterbury HEALTH as senior vice president and chief medical officer in 2016. He was named chief executive offer in October 2021.