State lawmakers are discussing a deal for Yale New Haven Health systems to acquire various Eastern CT health network hospitals, but a recent cyberattack could be putting that deal into jeopardy.
State leaders called the financial situation dire for community hospitals like Manchester Memorial, Waterbury Hospital, and Rockville General, especially since the cyberattacks to Eastern Connecticut Hospital Networks (ECHN) systems this summer.
“Smaller hospitals have been going through financial challenges across the state, that’s one thing that we have seen,” said Sen. Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor), co-chair of the state’s Public Health Committee. “The healthcare systems claim that they lose a lot of money on Medicare and a lot more on Medicaid. The only way of survival is if they have enough commercial insurance patients.”
Last November, Yale New Haven Health Systems (YNHHS) submitted a Certificate of Need application to acquire those three community hospitals from Prospect Medical Holdings.
“The law requires the federal government to approve it and the state government to approve it,” Anwar said.
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Anwar said the federal government has approved the deal, but this week, the required Certificate of Need review process continued at the state level between state and hospital leaders.
“We wanted to know how the patients are going to be taken care of, and we also wanted to know how is the work force going to be taken care of?” Anwar said.
With a focus on the patients, the Connecticut Hospital Association said, ”the process has moved much too slowly in many cases, where delays can impact access to care.”
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Recent cyberattacks to ECHN systems have made the situation even more pressing. In a statement, YNHHS said “our concerns include the deteriorating condition of the Waterbury and ECHN hospitals, particularly in light of the cyberattack last month.”
“For the past five, six weeks, they have not been able to bill for the patients, and as a result the financial situation has become a disaster,” Anwar said.
Yale went on to say they believe ”every day that passes without a path forward puts the transaction more at risk.”
Anwar said that the hope is to have an agreement in the next month or so. NBC Connecticut has reached out to the spokesperson for ECHN, but has not yet heard back.
