Waterbury Hospital
By John Murray
Dozens of city residents packed aldermanic chambers last night to protest the unfolding hospital merger betwen Saint Mary's Hospital, Waterbury Hospital, and the LHP Group of Plano, Texas. While some residents spoke against the merger itself, the biggest issue was the lack of dialogue between LHP and the citizens of Waterbury. To drive the point home, more than 50 people used empty milk cartons with the picture of LHP CEO Dan Moen on it to illustrate the "missing dialogue" with the community.
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Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary answered questions about the proposed hospital merger during the hearing June 11th in Hartford. The three partners in the merger were represented from left to right by Dan Moen of LHP, Darlene Stromsted of Waterbury Hospital, and Chad Wable from Saint Mary's Hospital. Photograph by John Murray
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By John Murray
Dr. James Gatling, right, listens to community activist Steve Schrag yesterday afternoon during an informational hearing at the state legislature concerning the proposed merger between Saint Mary's Hospital, Waterbury Hospital and LHP of Plano, Texas. Gatling spoke in favor of the merger on behalf of the Greater Waterbury Chamber of Commerce, and New Opportunites, both of which he holds leadership positions in. Schrag described the merger as a takeover by an out-of-state corporation and has repeatedly asked Dan Moen, the CEO of LHP, to sit down with community members, and the workers of the hospitals, to address their concerns. Moen has repeatedly said he will meet with labor and community members after a deal has been finalized, not before.
Community activist Steve Schrag (pictured above at the abandoned Anamet Building) has helped organize Waterbury United, a local group that is intent on getting answers from LHP about a proposed $400 million new hospital in Waterbury. LHP, a for-profit company based out of Plano, Texas, has so far declined to meet directly with members of the community to answer questions about jobs, taxes, and the long-term impact of the merger between LHP, Waterbury Hospital, and Saint Mary's Hospital. Earlier today, Schrag sent out a press release from Waterbury United that explained what the group was trying to achieve. The documents are posted below. Shrag sent the documents to Mayor Neil O'Leary who is traveling to Pocatello, Idaho, on a fact finding mission about LHP's impact on the community there. Scrag's e-mail said...
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During an interview last month Waterbury Hospital CEO Darlene Stromsted told the Waterbury Observer that high visibility was one of the factors being considered in deciding where to build a $400 million replacement hospital. The electrifying development of a new hospital in the city emerged in September when a capital investment company out of Texas, LHP Hospital Group, partnered with Saint Mary's Hospital, and Waterbury Hospital. The proposed merger is winding its way through the state permitting process, and the final site selection for the new, for-profit hospital, is expected to be announced within the next month. Mayor Neil O'Leary is lobbying hard to get the hospital built in downtown, and if his efforts are successful, could there be a more visible site than the one Saint Mary's Hospital sits on now? Every day there are 45,000 vehicles driving west on I-84 that sweep around a big curve and come face-to-face with Saint Mary's Hospital. If the new hospital is built on that site it will redefine the landscape in Waterbury, and project a modernized image of the Brass City. Photograph By Chelsea Murray (who was sitting in the passenger's seat)
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Chad Wable, the President and CEO of Saint Mary's Hospital, said the merger and site selection for a new hospital, “has gone from a complex deal, to a potentially mega-complex deal involving six parties. I am amazed at how aligned we are.”
Column By John Murray
Waterbury is engaged in a cultural collision that might define the city for the next 100 years. Good versus evil? No, it’s not that dramatic. It’s health care versus economic development.
Experts have scratched their heads for years wondering how a city the size of Waterbury could sustain two hospitals. The truth is, it couldn’t. For decades the city has witnessed a slow deterioration in the financial well being of Saint Mary’s Hospital, and Waterbury Hospital. They weren’t going to crash like airplanes tumbling out of the sky, it was more like a leak in an old wooden boat, slowly, almost imperceptibly, taking on water.
| Login or register to post comments | Tags: Chad Wable, Darlene Stromsted, Downtown Waterbury, Governor Dannell Malloy, John Rowland, LHP, Mayor Neil O'Leary, new $400 million hospital, Ron Pugliese, Saint Mary's Hospital, Waterbury Hospital