Local leaders are reacting to reports that the state of Connecticut is in talks to purchase three struggling hospitals in a deal approaching $400 million.
As first reported by the Connecticut Mirror, the University of Connecticut Health Center could purchase Waterbury Hospital, Bristol Hospital, and Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam.
Putnam Mayor Norman “Barney” Seney said the potential deal is welcome news for his community in Connecticut’s rural Quiet Corner.
“I think the state's doing the right thing and helping out the hospitals, because at the present time, the money issues are becoming an issue with small hospitals,” Seney told Connecticut Public.
Seney said the continued operation of the hospital is critical for his town.
“It means everything. There isn’t another hospital close to us,” Seney said. “We have to go to Norwich, or they have to go to Massachusetts. So it's a great benefit to the area. It's the only area hospital that provides all the services that need to be performed.”
Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski Jr. also said the potential purchase of Waterbury Hospital was welcome news.
“I think UConn is a solid entity to take over and operate” the hospital, Pernerewski said. “With the state indicating an interest in standing behind this and supporting them with the investment that they're willing to make into the hospital, I think it's all going to work out really well.”
Like Seney, Pernerewski cited access issues that could impact Waterbury residents were the hospital to close.
“It's a community health center. It’s where people go who are here when they're sick,” Pernerewski said. “There are people who would be able to go to MidState [in Meriden], let's say, or go to New Haven, or go to Danbury, even, to get care. But a huge number of people in Waterbury don't have that option, and they need to get the kind of health care that they get from the hospital right here in Waterbury.”
Pernerewski said he had attended meetings with the Waterbury legislative delegation, leadership from Waterbury Hospital, and state Comptroller Sean Scanlon.
“I'm confident in this case that the parties who are negotiating this all want to get to the same result, which is UConn taking over the hospital,” he said.
Bristol Mayor Jeff Caggiano did not return a request for comment on the potential sale of Bristol Hospital.
Gov. Ned Lamont told reporters Wednesday that formal bids would likely be submitted next week.
