Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and Rep. Jahana Hayes are pushing back on plans by Sharon (Conn.) Hospital, part of Danbury, Conn.-based Nuvance Health, to turn its intensive care unit and surgical unit into one "progressive care unit," Fox61 reported Feb. 22.
Sharon Hospital officials believe the hospital will eventually close if they do not go through with the plan. In December, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong investigated the hospital's planned closure of its maternity ward.
The hospital is losing $25 million a year, according to Nuvance CEO John Murphy, MD.
The lawmakers penned a letter to the Office of Health Strategy calling on it to reject Sharon's plan.
"While we understand the challenges facing the operation of rural hospitals in Connecticut, reducing or eliminating a wide range of critical acute care services at the one hospital within reasonable driving distance of many residents in Northwest Connecticut is untenable," the lawmakers wrote.