Month: November 2023

A delayed Certificate of Need process in the hospitals’ acquisition and closed-doors negotiations are further obscuring knowledge of how the potential sale is proceeding, speakers said. They noted some practices, including the activities of traveling nurses and technicians, have been potentially jeopardized by Prospect’s financial decision-making. Many professionals were decades-long employees of the Eastern Connecticut Health Network who warned about the potential community impacts of these hospitals’ care abilities diminishing – in addition to being a care network supporting 600,000 state residents, more than 3,000 jobs tied to the hospitals would be at risk in a closure.

“Things are moving in the wrong direction very fast,” said Sen. Anwar. “There are other hospitals in the country in Pennsylvania and New Jersey where Prospect took entire properties and sold them to real estate investment trusts, which charged unsustainable rents to the hospitals, some of which have been forced to close. Vendors have not been paid, with some services experiencing limitations. It’s a gradual process that puts patient care at risk. We are moving in a direction that could leave people without care. The well-being of patients is at the point of being threatened. We have a responsibility as the people who provide hands-on care to state that we stand united and will work closely together with everyone to allow Prospect to leave our state forever.”

“These are the people who provide healthcare in my community and I am proud to stand with them today,” said Rep. Doucette of the medical workers assembled. “These are the people who have been affected by the current untenable situation with Prospect and the never-ending Certificate of Need application. It’s been frustrating for me; I’ve been taking calls at all levels from concerned employees and patients for many months as the process continues to take so long. The CON process is broken – it should be focused not on the finances of the deal, but rather on what is in the public interest and what can improve the quality of healthcare for our residents.  The situation with our hospitals has deteriorated over the last year due to all of the problems with Prospect.  The fact is that for-profit private equity has no place in healthcare.  The sooner we can get this transaction done, the sooner we can get Prospect Medical out of the state of Connecticut, the better.  We need Yale to participate in helping to find a solution.  The alternative is unthinkable.”

“In a community like the one I represent which includes Rockville, it is a socio-economically distressed community,” said Rep. Brown. “It needs the hospital for healthcare services. It’s a walkable destination for people in the community seeking care. Additionally, in my opinion, healthcare is a human right. We need to do what we can to help this process along and we need this to happen; I can’t imagine where we would be if any of these hospitals were to close. We need to prioritize this and treat it like the emergency it is.”

“In my role as President, what I have seen in the last few years is unbelievable,” said Dr. Dushyant Gandhi, president of medical staff at Eastern Connecticut Health Network. “To give some examples, patients are contacting me asking if their hospitals are getting closed. Colleagues of mine are not being paid for their services, and we’re not talking about late payment – in some instances, there are no payments. I have always enjoyed taking care of patients, but care is under threat due to non-payment, this is a bad situation. We need to be resuscitated as a medical office. Hopefully people in power hear this loud and clear and do what is best for the community we serve.”

“The best thing for healthcare in Connecticut is Yale taking over for Prospect,” said Dr. David Hill, who is a pulmonary critical care specialist at Waterbury Hospital. “No one who has spoken publicly has spoken against the deal [where Yale acquires these hospitals]. Since that time we have had a security breach and professionals have operated on paper. We have struggled to have supplies, to receive payment for services and to provide care, and I’m surrounded by dedicated professionals who just want to do their jobs, take care of their patients and make sure their communities are safe and well cared for. We cannot continue to operate in this fashion. All we want to do is do our jobs well.”

“We’ll all be glad when Prospect leaves the state of Connecticut,” said John Brady, vice president of AFT CT representing nurses and a retired emergency room nurse. “They have stripped these hospitals of resources and loaded them with debt. We want access to services to be protected and restored moving forward. For-profit hospitals have no place in Connecticut and I hope we can learn from that and move forward in that light.”

“While Prospect has put us in a chokehold, every single day I see doctors and nurses do their very best for patient safety and great outcomes despite our struggles,” said Anne-Marie Cera, a registered nurse and president of the Manchester Hospital nurse’s union. “I’ve been a nurse for 33 years; the community that we serve, our patients, our colleagues are our families. All my life has been spent taking care of patients; if the hospitals close, it will be an injustice that profit comes before patients.”

Caption: Sen. Anwar, center, speaks while joined by Rep. Brown (left, in navy suit), Rep. Doucette (right, in checkered jacket) and medical professionals

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Today, State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) welcomed the announced release of $800,000, part of a larger release of $11.7 million across the state, which will support the South Windsor Crosstown trail. The grant funding will be released to South Windsor through the Department of Transportation’s state-funded Community Connectivity Grant Program, an infrastructure improvement initiative providing funding for local projects improving safety and accessibility for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users across the state.

“It’s great news for the South Windsor community to hear of this new funding supporting local outdoor recreation,” said Sen. Anwar. “This grant will support the further development of the cross-town trails, which will not only provide an opportunity for residents to get outside and enjoy South Windsor’s local beauty, but will add alternative transportation options throughout town for walkers, bicyclists and commuters. It will even connect to the Charter Oak Greenway in Manchester, providing even further community connections. I’m grateful to Governor Lamont, the Department of Transportation and the State Bond Commission for supporting our community.”

“These projects help connect people to their communities, promote economic development, create more vibrant town centers, and encourage environmentally friendly transportation options,” Governor Lamont said. “Supporting this program with state dollars is improving the quality of life for towns and cities throughout the state.”

The South Windsor Crosstown Trail, an ongoing project in South Windsor, will upon completion run more than six miles through the town, running north to south and passing through Wapping Park, the South Windsor Land Conservation Trust, Nevers Park and the South Windsor Wildlife Sanctuary.

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The Senators led a number of legislators and advocates including Senate President Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven); Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz; State Representative Cristin McCarthy-Vahey (D-Bridgeport, Fairfield), House Chair of the Public Health Committee; State Senator Henri Martin (R-Bristol); John Brady, a registered nurse with the AFT Connecticut; Kim Sandor of the Connecticut Association of Nurses and Tracy Wodatch of the Connecticut Association For Healthcare at Home.

“We know health care workers and health care systems have not been immune to violence; we have heard clearly from them that they have been kicked, punched, spit on and faced physical threats. This is the reality for individuals every day in those systems,” said Sen. Anwar, who is a medical doctor with specializations in treating lung diseases and critical care medicine. “Up to one quarter of all health care professionals have considered leaving the industry due to violence. Health care workers have it in their instincts, are trained, to care for others before themselves. The state has to take it upon itself to help our health care workers.”

“In the most recent legislative session,” Sen. Anwar continued, “we passed a law that will require the Department of Public Health to create a public service campaign about abuse of health care workers through various means and promote a security grant program for health care facilities. We must also take care of those who work in the homes of our community members. Others’ homes are their workplace and they are not safe. Up to 44% of home health workers have reported physical assault. This is a moment where in health care, more people are receiving care at home. We need to make sure there is zero tolerance and that our workers remain safe.”

“We have been trying to get safer protocols in our homes for decades, I’ve worked for it for 20 years,” said Sen. Marx, who is a visiting nurse and the union president of AFT Local 5119 Southeastern Connecticut for registered nurses and home aides. “Things will get a little better, then time passes and the safety of the staff is not the number one thing anymore. We need to remember the safety of staff and patients. This goes for social workers and therapists, as well as aides and attendants. They are often the most vulnerable, they are often women of color, English may be their second language and they may be in homes for months at a time. If they are assaulted, they don’t report it because they need their job. Reported numbers of assaults are not accurate, as we don’t have to report them. We need to be able to report assaults and bad behavior. We need to make sure we have data to know how safe or unsafe staff is out there. The death of this visiting nurse – she went to work and she died. That should never happen. We need to make sure safety training matches what workers meet in the home. We need to make sure in-home care has two people entering a home for safety. We will pass legislation with this nurse in our hearts, but while health care workers are saddened, we are not surprised. We want to take care of everybody, but we need to make sure we are safe and that our patients are safe.”

“The security and safety of people who provide care in homes will be an increasing problem as hospital stays become shorter, more individuals are released to recover at home and more patients are being cared for at home, including with hospice care,” said Sen. Looney. “That is a growing trend. We need to work on issues like these because we need to look at the consequences of growing trends, and while this is a good thing – people like being in their homes and recover better there – we need to make sure those who care for them there are able to do so safely and without concern. We need to provide security for home care as we set up strategies for home care to succeed.”

Proposals for legislation suggested by legislators and health care workers included developing new protocols for home care workers to have safety checks on patients before entering their homes, new risk strategies for homes and neighborhoods and strengthening of safety committees to aid workers in the event of risk. Further suggestions included stratification for health care workers who enter homes; training health care workers to be ready and know how to remain safe when working in-home, reflecting the reality of the care they experience; and payment reform, as current models are not sustainable as health care models shift to more home care.

Legislators gathered on Wednesday in response to the killing of Connecticut visiting nurse Joyce Grayson in a Willimantic halfway house on October 28 after arriving to take care of a patient. A suspect in the case who was staying at the halfway house is in police custody.

Amid a general rise in violence against health care workers, with 48% of nurses reporting increases in workplace violence in 2022 according to National Nurses United and 40% of health care workers experiencing incidents of workplace violence in 2021 and 2022, home health care workers, who often enter patients’ homes alone, are at significant risk. Anywhere from 18 to 65% of home health care workers reported experiencing verbal abuse, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and up to 44% have reported being physically assaulted. Threats against home care workers often correlate to patients with histories of violence, mental illness or substance use disorder.

Caption: State Senator Saud Anwar, center, speaks amid dozens of gathered advocates and legislators Wednesday in Hartford, with State Senator Martha Marx, to his left, joining him in leading a call to protect health care workers.

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