Something must be done about Waterbury Hospital for the sake of its staff and the health and safety of community members who depend on its services. The stakes could not be higher—this is a matter of life and death.
To say that Waterbury’s handling by Prospect Medical, who bought the hospital for $31.8 million in 2016, has been poor would be an understatement. Senator Chris Murphy has called it an outright “abomination.” The private equity model of Prospect has destroyed any hope of the hospital doing what it should: provide good, accessible healthcare to those in the area.
My first exposure to the issues with Waterbury Hospital occurred in Waterbury at the Brookside Housing Cooperatives, a local complex of housing cooperatives. Alex Kolokotronis, the Director for Naugatuck Valley Project, while guiding a tour of the cooperatives made it clear that “at the end of the day it affects everyone in the area.”
The city of Waterbury, with a population of 114,990, should not have to depend on a hospital whose owners look to maximize profits instead of providing the basic healthcare necessities. The for-profit ownership model of hospitals, exemplified by Prospect Medical’s handling of Waterbury Hospital, endangers public health and must be stopped.
Waterbury was first opened in 1890 with just 30 beds available and has expanded since to 357 licensed beds. Waterbury has a Cardiology, Orthopedic Surgery, a Surgical Innovation Center, and a Family Birthing Center, and it offers an extensive array of additional services. On paper, Waterbury sounds like a thriving, well-funded, and modern hospital. The issue: private-equity ownership.
Since Waterbury Hospital was bought by Prospect Medical, there have been extensive issues of ownership and mismanagement that all are rooted in the private equity model of Prospect. The model? Initially infuse hospitals with large amounts of funding, then saddle the hospitals with massive amounts of debt, cut staff, cut supplies and investments, maximize profits before selling or declaring bankruptcy. That is exactly what Prospect has done.
Prospect came into the Waterbury ownership with the promise of “turning around [the] financially challenged hospital.” It was seen as just that, a possible salvation for a faltering hospital. A 2024 investigation by state health inspectors was “concerned that the ICU is often inappropriately staffed” and that Waterbury was “not providing quality patient care.”
Sarah Campell, a former nurse at Waterbury, spoke with the CT Insider. She painted a devastatingly bleak portrait of Waterbury. She reported water leaks, broken beds, inoperable computers, a lack of cell service, and plumbing issues. It would then make sense that Prospect was issued a $60,000 fine for health code violations that same year.
Prospect followed the private equity playbook with chilling precision. In January, Prospect filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, having milked profits from people just looking for good healthcare. When I say milked, I mean the fact that Prospect owes Waterbury roughly $22 million in unpaid city taxes. This bankruptcy filing ripples far beyond Waterbury, threatening Prospect’s other Connecticut hospitals, Manchester Memorial and Rockville General as well. Hospitals are not hedge funds. People’s health is not an asset class. Waterbury should have been treated like a place of care, not a business deal.
Yale New Haven Health (YNHH) reached a deal to buy all three hospitals in 2022 with a settled amount of $435 million dollars. However, this quickly fell through due to a series of lawsuits and counter-lawsuits between the two groups over the true value of the assets. YNHH and the overarching healthcare system allege that once the $435 million dollar settlement was reached and signed, Prospect began to neglect the properties, decreasing the overall value of purchasing for YNHH. With reports of neglecting to pay rent and the denial by Prospect to provide YNHH with an audit, a spokesperson reported, “The lawsuit filed by Prospect is a clear attempt to shift attention away from the for-profit, California-based company’s mismanagement of their Connecticut facilities and neglect of the communities who entrusted them with their care.”
Monetarily the for-profit private equity was successful for Prospect. The issue is that this model comes at the risk and expense of real people, with real issues, and real health to take care of. The truth seems to be that Prospect did not and does not care about this when it comes to the monetary value of their stakeholders and investors.
Something must be done about Waterbury, Manchester Memorial, and Rockville General as soon as possible. Terms of settlement and discussion need to be moved away from money and look at the real thing being discussed, which is the lives of people. The lives of people who actually depend on the services and care of these hospitals. No person should enter a hospital and worry about the quality of service, lack of staffing, or be boarded in an ER for a full day before being seen.
Connecticut lawmakers are taking action this session with House Bill 7067 calling for an expedited timeline for acquisition of bankrupt hospitals and Senate Bill 1507, a proposal to flat out ban private equity ownership of hospitals.
Waterbury’s story shows what happens when healthcare becomes a profit machine instead of a public good. It should be treated as such and used as a lesson for healthcare across America. Prospect’s structure harming everyday citizens is not a uniquely Waterbury issue, it is one that can be seen across the United States. It’s time to put an end to the era of profit-first healthcare. People’s lives—not private equity returns—must come first.
Gray West is a rising Sophomore at Wesleyan University, majoring in Government and Economics and minoring in Environmental Studies.