Community members are planning a protest June 3 at Waterbury (Conn.) Hospital in disapproval of the facility's for-profit operator, Prospect Medical Holdings, according to the Hartford Courant.
Five things to know:
1. Waterbury Hospital and Manchester (Conn.) Memorial Hospital, both bought by Los Angeles-based Prospect in 2016, were cited for conditions that placed patients in "immediate jeopardy."
2. The safety lapses include a patient dying by suicide and a suicide attempt involving another patient at Waterbury Hospital. The hospital neglected to notify police of the suicide, according to the report.
3. Two safety mishaps also occurred at Manchester Memorial, where a woman died after giving birth to a stillborn baby, and an infant was born with severe neonatal encephalopathy after a delayed C-section, according to state inspection reports cited by the Hartford Courant.
4. As a result of lapses in medical care, Waterbury Hospital faces losing federal Medicare funding in August if the errors aren't corrected.
5. Amid the safety lapses and sanctions imposed on the hospitals, community members are planning a protest rally, calling for state oversight conditions — which expire in October — to be extended for at least a year. However, Prospect said in an email to the Hartford Courant that it not only saved the hospital from "severe financial distress," but "invested approximately $58 million in the Waterbury and Manchester hospital systems to help improve both their clinical quality and financial performance."
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