© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WECS · WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM · WVOF
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Rusty equipment found in operating rooms at Prospect-owned Waterbury Hospital, state inspectors say

FILE: Waterbury Hospital is owned by Prospect Medical Holdings, a private-equity group based in California.
Tyler Russell
/
Connecticut Public
FILE: Waterbury Hospital is owned by Prospect Medical Holdings, a private-equity group based in California.

Operating rooms at Waterbury Hospital were found to have multiple pieces of equipment with heavy rust, according to an unannounced state inspection of the facility last year.

Waterbury Hospital, which is owned by the private-equity group Prospect Medical, was also cited by inspectors from the state Department of Public Health for failing “to ensure that equipment within the operating rooms were able to be properly sanitized" following an inspection of the surgical units last January.

In an operating room, rust can raise the risk of infection.

The documents, which Connecticut Public obtained through a public records request, also identified multiple table pads with cracks that prevented the pads from being properly sanitized between patients.

Following the state inspection, rusty IV poles were removed by the operating room director and the director of surgical services educated staff to tag and remove all equipment showing rust, according to the state inspection reports.

Waterbury Hospital said in a statement that corrective actions were immediately put in place, and the hospital is currently in full compliance with all requirements.

Currently, Waterbury Hospital, along with Manchester Memorial and Rockville General Hospital are stuck in a messy $435 million sale to Yale New Haven Health. Yale sued Prospect to back out of the deal alleging mismanagement, and Prospect counter sued earlier this year.

Learn more

As doctors say they're waiting to get paid by Prospect, staffing shake-up hits Manchester Memorial

Pattern of alleged abuse emerges following state inspections at 2 Prospect-owned CT hospitals

Staffing problems persist at Prospect-owned Waterbury Hospital, union leader says

Sujata Srinivasan is Connecticut Public Radio’s senior health reporter. Prior to that, she was a senior producer for Where We Live, a newsroom editor, and from 2010-2014, a business reporter for the station.

Fund the Facts

You just read trusted, local journalism that’s free for everyone, thanks to donors like you.

If that matters to you, now is the time to give. Join the 50,000+ members powering honest reporting and a more connected — and civil! — Connecticut.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Fund the Facts

You just read trusted, local journalism that’s free for everyone, thanks to donors like you.

If that matters to you, now is the time to give. Join the 50,000+ members powering honest reporting and a more connected — and civil! — Connecticut.

Related Content
Connecticut Public’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.