Profits Over Patient Care Is Bad Medicine Support unbiased journalism in Connecticut. Join CT Mirror’s members today and make an impact. Health care in Connecticut is facing a challenge from the growing emergence of for-profit private equity firms owning hospitals and operating health care networks in the U.S. The problem is that these facilities are being used solely to make money and then discarded when no more profit can be had. As a doctor and state senator, I understand that this is a prescription for bad medicine. Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., a private equity organization based in California that owns 16 hospitals and 166 outpatient medical centers, years ago bought Rockville General Hospital, Manchester Memorial Hospital, Waterbury Hospital, and Eastern Connecticut Health Network. These hospitals and patient care networks are financially struggling while Prospect cuts funding for needed services to make profits. Also relevant is that Prospect made huge profits while its hospital systems suffered substantial losses when it was owned by the investment firm Leonard Green & Partners. Prospect took on significant debt to fuel its expansion for profits. To find the money, it sold hospital real estate and assets to Medical Properties Trust, which then required lease payments from the hospitals, further draining them of funds. Sensing that something was amiss, various states have been investigating Prospect for its financial arrangements, concerns about quality and safety, and the closure of hospitals and services. Finding the hospitals and health systems no longer profitable and in need of significant improvements (including recovering from a major cyberattack), Prospect now wishes to sell, and Yale New Haven Health has stepped in. Prospect is now suing Yale, alleging an attempt to undercut the agreed-upon purchase price, and the deal is in limbo. Yet, the financial status of the hospital is on life support. Connecticut is not alone in this situation. Massachusetts is facing a similar circumstance in a tremendously disruptive and expensive way. What is happening in Massachusetts should be a cautionary tale for Connecticut. Why? Here’s a snapshot of what’s happening there: Steward Health Care owns six Massachusetts hospitals. Like Prospect, Steward made profits while its hospitals declined. Steward then filed for bankruptcy. Massachusetts’ government had to step in to prevent a sudden closure of hospitals that would seriously jeopardize patient care. It is estimated that doing so now, with the deteriorating conditions, could cost $700 million of taxpayer money. Nevertheless, two of the hospitals will close. We cannot let this nightmare scenario happen in Connecticut. I have met and spoken with many people who work for or utilize services at Rockville General Hospital and ECHN. They are concerned. So am I. For-profit private equity groups answer to their shareholders’ financial interests. While I do not begrudge them working hard to make profits, I continue to sound the alarm when such profit-making is the only factor or the overriding factor guiding health care decisions and patient care. Look at the results. Which industries in CT are collectively known as the "blue economy?" Do you know the answer? Play this week's news quiz to find out. It is paramount that we establish laws to protect our hospitals and local health-care delivery systems. If profit-seeking organizations are allowed to continue buying hospitals and their related health-care networks, then the people of Connecticut will suffer the loss of vital local care and opportunities for good-paying health care jobs. Worse still, taxpayer money will be necessary to keep bankrupted hospitals afloat. This year, I submitted legislation that would require our state government to develop a plan concerning these private equity firms. I also partnered in a bipartisan way on legislative reform of the state’s Certificate of Need program that included provisions to limit and hold private equity firms accountable through strong oversight. These steps are primary prevention measures to decrease risks associated with these organizations running hospitals. We must keep the focus on expanding all aspects of affordable health care when and where people need it, including in emergencies, and that is locally in our communities across Connecticut. The future of our health care system depends upon it. It is the prescription that is needed. Jeff Gordon, M.D., represents Ashford, Chaplin, Coventry, Eastford, Ellington, Hampton, Stafford, Thompson, Tolland, Union, Vernon, Willington, and Woodstock in the Connecticut State Senate.