Some 40 state lawmakers are urging Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) to step in and get Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare to reconsider its decision not to acquire Waterbury (Conn.) Hospital and four other hospitals in the state, according to a Republican American report.
That urging came via a letter signed by state representatives and senators.
Rep. Jeffrey J. Berger (D-73rd District) and Sen. Joan V. Hartley (D-15th District) told the Republican American that a top Tenet executive accepted an offer to have a private meeting with Senate Minority Leader Leonard A. Fasano (R-North Haven) and Senate President Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and that prompted the letter, according to the report.
"We want to be at that table," Sen. Berger told the Republican American. "The legislators of the affected municipalities want to have a say and are concerned because it is jobs. In my district alone, Waterbury Hospital is 2,500 jobs," he said.
Tenet planned to acquire Waterbury as well as four other Connecticut hospitals: Bristol Hospital; Saint Mary's Hospital in Waterbury; and Eastern Connecticut Health Network, based in Manchester, which owns Rockville General in Vernon and Manchester Memorial.
However, in December, Tenet announced it would no longer pursue those efforts due to proposed conditions state regulators put on the hospital operator's purchase of Waterbury.
"The extensive list of proposed conditions to be imposed on the Waterbury Hospital transaction, which is only the first of four transactions for which we've made applications, has led us to conclude that the approach to regulatory oversight in Connecticut would not enable Tenet to operate the hospitals successfully for the benefit of all stakeholders," Tenet said in a previous statement.
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