Allegations of harm to patients at three Connecticut hospitals have come to light, after a Hartford Superior Court judge last week unsealed part of the original complaint filed by Yale New Haven Health (YNHH) against Prospect Medical Holdings.
The sale of three Prospect-owned hospitals — Waterbury Hospital, Manchester Memorial, and Rockville General — to YNHH remains in jeopardy following allegations of fraud and mismanagement in a lawsuit filed against Los-Angeles based Prospect by YNHH earlier this year.
YNHH initially agreed to buy the three hospitals for $435 million in 2022, but said financial conditions at those hospitals have since further deteriorated.
In parts of the unsealed court document, Yale alleged that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2023 issued a notice of noncompliance to Waterbury Hospital Laboratory, posing a risk to patient safety. On June 16, 2023, Yale alleged the CMS issued a notice which indicated that the lab was not in compliance with nine of the conditions required for certification under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) program and that the deficient practices posed immense risk to patient health and safety.
According to the filing, Department of Public Health surveys that same month uncovered that a patient had died in the emergency department in December 2022 after Waterbury Lab failed to quickly and properly process the patient’s bloodwork.
Other allegations include notice of noncompliance issued to Manchester Memorial Hospital pertaining to safety regarding infant abductions, and nonpayment to vendors at Prospect hospitals, affecting quality of care.
Prospect said the Waterbury lab conditions have been rectified, and denied all other allegations.
The U.S. Department of Justice has an ongoing investigation into potential fraud at Prospect Medical Holdings, according to court filings in the legal battle between YNHH and Prospect.
Connecticut Public's Matt Dwyer contributed to this report.
