Staffing problems at a Prospect-owned hospital in 黑料吃瓜网 are affecting patients and practitioners, according to the hospital鈥檚 nursing and technicians union.
The concerns at Waterbury Hospital 鈥� one of three hospitals in 黑料吃瓜网 owned by the private equity firm Prospect Medical Holdings 鈥� continue after unannounced inspections last year found a staffing shortfall at the hospital鈥檚 emergency department.
Public records obtained by 黑料吃瓜网 stated the department was understaffed by between one and four registered nurses on 80% of the reviewed shifts in October and November.
Union officials say those staffing problems continue this year, even after a state law was passed in 2023 to try to fix the problem of staff-to-patient ratios at hospitals statewide.
In a statement, Waterbury Hospital said it continues to work to recruit nurses despite national shortages. It says 鈥減roviding safe, quality patient care is our top priority鈥� and that the hospital remains in compliance with state and federal care guidelines.
Private equity and persistent problems at Prospect
As 黑料吃瓜网 has reported, state investigations at two Prospect-owned hospitals in 黑料吃瓜网, including Waterbury, unearthed a pattern of alleged patient abuse and a failure by hospital staff to conduct timely investigations in accordance with hospital policy.
A sale of the three Prospect-owned hospitals in 黑料吃瓜网 鈥� Rockville General, Manchester Memorial and Waterbury Hospital 鈥� to Yale New Haven Health is also currently in jeopardy.
In May, Yale sued Prospect alleging mismanagement. Prospect countersued, saying Yale was breaching its contract on the $435 million deal.
The multimillion-dollar deal has caught the attention of lawmakers. In September, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy that private equity firms like Prospect are cutting staff and gutting services at hospitals to boost profits.
鈥淎re you making money for the purpose of providing good health care or are you making money for the purpose of making the owners filthy rich?鈥� Murphy said.
鈥業 was hopeful鈥�
State law mandates hospitals formulate staffing committees to ensure each unit has a healthy ratio of patients to nurses or medical assistants. The staffing committee is evenly split between hospital administrators and nurses, but nurses get a "plus-one" vote. In a union hospital like Waterbury, the union selects the nurses on the committee.
In July, the administration and nurses at Waterbury Hospital met to hammer out a new agreement on staff-to-patient ratios and a plan was agreed upon.
Staff at the hospital were optimistic.
鈥淚t was a unanimous vote in favor of the plan, and I was hopeful that staffing would get better at that point,鈥� said Edmund Gadomski, executive secretary at the 黑料吃瓜网 Health Care Associates District 1199.
But Gadomski says the hospital is 鈥渘ot complying with the staffing plan submitted and that is leaving the staff short staffed and working in a dangerous work environment on a daily basis.鈥�
In a statement, the hospital said 鈥渁ny issues that are self-identified or noted by the Department of Public Health (DPH) are immediately addressed.鈥�
鈥淲e continue to work with our unions and our regulators to meet all regulatory requirements,鈥� the hospital said.
Medications not administered on time, not documented
Medication administration and documentation were also a problem at Waterbury Hospital, according to records obtained by 黑料吃瓜网 of unannounced state inspections of the hospital in 2023.
One nurse said she was unable to administer on Aug. 7 an intravenous antibiotic to a patient whose palm fell onto nails because 鈥渟he was busy.鈥�
That same patient, who was diabetic, also lacked documentation of proper blood-glucose monitoring, public records showed.
In a response to DPH investigators, the hospital on Aug. 8 said it provided education on dose timing to all nursing staff, and supplied a posted reference chart to each of the nursing units as a job aide.
One shift per day was also assigned to complete verification of the medication administration record to the physician鈥檚 orders. And the pharmacy and nursing unit would no longer accept medication orders if they were not complete or compliant with the guidance that was put in place, the hospital said.
鈥楾he danger of a medical error occurring鈥�
Gadomski, with the hospital鈥檚 nursing and technicians union, said when staff is stretched thin, problems can develop.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e working short staffed it certainly increases the danger of a medical error occurring and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e trying to avoid,鈥� Gadomski said.
He said the shortage 鈥� also comprising patient care assistants 鈥� persists across departments at Waterbury Hospital, including at a unit where patients need continuous cardiac monitoring.
A complaint by the union has been pending with the state Department of Public Health (DPH) since January and Gadomski said DPH officials have been on-site at the hospital on a regular basis.
Chris Boyle, a spokesperson for the DPH, said the agency 鈥渄oes not release any details regarding open investigations.鈥�
鈥楾hese small hospitals can鈥檛 survive on their own鈥�
Dr. David Hill, a pulmonary critical care physician on staff at Waterbury Hospital, who also serves as chair of the local leadership board for the hospital, attributed the hospital鈥檚 staffing challenges in part to cash flow problems, for which he said lawmakers bear responsibility.
鈥淲e have a high burden of Medicaid patients. The state has not increased reimbursement for Medicaid patients to hospitals in over fifteen years,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he challenges we face, some of that may be put on Prospect, but a lot of this is on the state of 黑料吃瓜网. We're a very wealthy state, and we're underfunding health care for the people who need it the most, and these small hospitals can't survive on their own.鈥�
Waterbury鈥檚 median household income is $48,787, compared to $83,572 statewide, to data from Data Haven.
Hospitals were reimbursed 62 cents for every dollar they spent on a patient insured by Medicaid in 2022, to the Office of Health Strategy.
And then there鈥檚 the ongoing struggle of finding enough nurses.
It鈥檚 a crisis that has hit hospitals across America .
In a statement, Waterbury Hospital acknowledged the ongoing nursing shortages, but said, 鈥渄espite this challenge, we continue to actively and successfully recruit nurses and staff, with new employees joining our team every month.鈥�
Gadomski agreed. But said the problem is that they leave.
鈥淢any of the nurses come in, unfortunately see what's going on and leave,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here's got to be a plan in place for retention, not just for drawing in nurses.鈥�
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Pattern of alleged abuse emerges following state inspections at 2 Prospect-owned CT hospitals
