Waterbury Hospital faces scrutiny over staffing, patient care

Republican-American – Sunday, November 17, 2024
By Livi Stanford

WATERBURY – An independent monitor to keep watch on patient care at Waterbury Hospital and two others owned by its corporate owner has yet to be hired, nearly a month after Gov. Ned Lamont said his administration told Prospect Medical Holdings to do so.

State Sen. Joan V. Hartley said she has learned that installation of an independent monitor was part of a negotiated agreement between Prospect Medical, which also owns Manchester Memorial and Rockville General in Vernon, and DPH.

Negotiations through legal counsel on the matter are ongoing, said Christopher Boyle, director of communications for the state Department of Public Health.

Lamont has said he remains concerned about patient care and safety at all of Prospect’s hospitals as a legal battle between Yale New Haven Health and Prospect drags on concerning the sale of Prospect’s hospitals.

With no deal in sight, two unions at Waterbury Hospital and state and local leaders worry patient care is at risk, alleging inadequate staffing and equipment and a failure by the hospital to follow requirements of a new staffing law.

The Attorney General’s office is investigating Prospect Medical Holdings, but the details are not available for public comment, said Elizabeth Benton, spokeswoman for the office.

Potential buyer Yale New Haven Health filed for a declaratory judgment in May that it is not obligated to close the sale because Prospect Medical Holdings allegedly violated the purchase agreement. Prospect brought a counterclaim against Yale for allegedly breaking the agreement by refusing to pay the negotiated $435 million sales price. The cases have been consolidated in Hartford Superior Court.

There are 47 open nursing positions at Waterbury Hospital, according to the hospital’s website. There are 18 at Midstate Hospital and 27 at Saint Mary’s Hospital, according to their websites.

Ed Gadomski, internal organizer for Connecticut Health Care Associates District 1199 Waterbury Hospital and Tech unions, said nearly every department is understaffed as he alleges state-mandated staffing levels are not being met.

A year and a half ago, Lamont signed a law requiring hospitals to submit nurse staffing plans that both nurses and hospital administrators have supported, with a priority of nurse-to-patient ratios with the goal of quality care.

The new law required an Oct. 1 deadline for hospitals to report to the state Department of Public Health whether they are complying with 80% of nursing staffing assignments in its nurse staffing plan. If a hospital fails to do so, the DPH commissioner must issue an order that requires the hospital to submit and implement a corrective action plan, and the hospital could be fined.

Lauresha Xhihani, communications director for Waterbury Health, said the hospital has been in compliance with at least 80% of the nursing staffing assignments outlined in the hospital’s staffing plan. Boyle said the hospital has submitted the foregoing written certification and the 80% compliance report.

Gadomski disagreed, citing a 50% vacancy rate in the operating room.

Gadomski said nurses are going over their allotted sick time because they are exhausted. He said he filed a complaint with the Department of Public Health over the issue in January and still has not heard back from the agency. Over the summer he filed a complaint concerning alleged violations of the hospital staffing law, and says he has yet to hear back on that complaint.

“I don’t feel like the law is being enforced,” he said. “I can say that I have evidence that the law is being enforced because of what I see and are being told by the nursing staff at Waterbury Hospital. Why doesn’t DPH speak with the front line workers, the nurses and the technicians as opposed to getting an answer from administration?”

He said nurses tell them they are overseeing seven to eight patients at a time which is a violation of the nurse to patient ratio which should be one nurse to five patients.

“If we continue to delay this is a chance of medical errors occurring on a more frequent basis,” he said.

Boyle said that the hospital has submitted the written certifications verifying that the facility is in compliance.

Asked if DPH has investigated that certification to ensure that the hospital is complying with the new law, Boyle said when “DPH surveyors are on site at any health care facility, they carefully review the staffing requirements.”

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