The bill authorizing UConn Health to purchase Waterbury Hospital wasn’t even written when one of Connecticut’s most politically influential healthcare unions began issuing demands.
On Oct. 17 — weeks before the House passed the bill on Nov. 12 and the Senate on Nov. 13 — AFT/CHCA District 1199 released a statement outlining its expectations and warnings. The message was clear: the union intended to shape the process before lawmakers had even finished drafting the legislation.
Its statement promised “collective action” if staffing levels or employment conditions weren’t maintained, long before the bill was finalized or the public could see its details. Whether lawmakers were aware of these demands is unclear. What is clear is that the union signaled to all it would have a hand in how the deal unfolded from the start.
Prospect’s Mismanagement Was Costly. Hartford’s Solution Could be Worse
The union frames the Prospect Medical Holdings bankruptcy as a victory for “workers and the community.” In one sense, it’s right. Prospect, a California-based private equity firm, hollowed Waterbury Hospital for parts, leaving behind tens of millions in unpaid taxes, overdue bills, and unmet pension obligations.
But Prospect’s mismanagement doesn’t make the state’s solution any safer. Rather than preventing another private-equity failure, lawmakers opted to give a public university bonding authority and a mandate to acquire hospitals — turning UConn Health into a quasi-state hospital system with access to taxpayer-backed borrowing.
The legislation creates the UConn Health Center Joint Venture Initiative, granting the university authority to “acquire, operate, fund, improve and sell hospital systems.” It also allows UConn to issue debt, form subsidiaries, and enter “joint ventures” across Connecticut — effectively letting it own and operate hospitals statewide.
In short: UConn Health can now buy hospitals, borrow money to expand them, and pass the debt to taxpayers.
Lawmakers added a last-minute amendment directing any future sale proceeds back to the General Fund. But that change doesn’t alter the risk, if one of these ventures fails, taxpayers will still be responsible for the losses.
UConn Health has already submitted a $13 million cash bid and agreed to assume $22 million in debt. Competing bidders have until Nov. 14 to step forward. If none do, UConn will win the Nov. 17 auction, with a bankruptcy-court approval hearing set for Nov. 18. State officials estimate the total cost of restoring the hospital at $420–$500 million, financed entirely through state-backed bonding over the next five years.
An Early Power Play
The union has made no secret of its goals. Workers “dread a potential purchase by another for-profit operator,” union president Dave Hannon said, adding, “We’re doing our best to not allow that to happen.” That’s not negotiation — it’s direction.
The statement warns that if a new owner attempts to reorganize services or staffing, members will “mobilize collectively — up to and including public actions.”
The union also has a formal seat in the bankruptcy process: Hannon chairs the Unsecured Creditors Committee, ensuring union representation as the court determines who gets paid and on what terms. This gives the union a voice in the sale that few other stakeholders enjoy — including taxpayers.
Inside Waterbury Hospital, the union describes “dangerous” staffing conditions and morale so low it “heightens the risk of medical errors.” Many of these concerns are valid; the hospital has been mismanaged for years. But the union’s hardline stance leaves little room for the operational or cost reforms any turnaround will require.
Politically, the union has already aligned with elected officials “at all levels… to demand an outcome” favorable to its members. That push is already showing up in discussions about forgiving tens of millions in unpaid taxes to make a union-preferred deal possible.
To be fair, not all the union’s goals are unreasonable. After years of neglect under Prospect, workers deserve safe staffing, functioning equipment, and a buyer committed to stability.
But the union’s demands go further — far enough to raise serious questions for taxpayers. AFT/CHCA is signaling that certain legally qualified bidders should be blocked outright, that operational reforms should be treated as unacceptable, and that taxpayers should absorb major financial losses to secure the buyer the union prefers.
The scope of those demands — made before lawmakers had even finished writing the bill — raises larger questions about who is steering this process and at what cost.
The real risk here isn’t just that UConn Health is being turned into a taxpayer-backed hospital system with the ability to take on new debt. It’s that one politically powerful union made clear, weeks before the vote, that it expects to influence who buys the hospital, how it operates, and how much the public will ultimately pay.
What Comes Next for Taxpayers
Now that UConn Health is poised to acquire Waterbury Hospital, one reality is unavoidable: taxpayers are on the hook.
The state plans to borrow hundreds of millions to rebuild the hospital, and that debt will sit on Connecticut’s books for decades. If UConn Health runs short on cash — as it frequently does — the state will be expected to close the gap.
Meanwhile, UConn Health’s current employees are part of the SEBAC bargaining coalition, with some of the most generous pension and healthcare benefits in the nation. Waterbury Hospital employees are not — but once they join the same umbrella system, pressure to equalize benefits will almost certainly grow. That alone could drive long-term labor costs ar higher than the state now projects.
Put together, Connecticut isn’t just buying a hospital. It’s assuming a long-term financial obligation with few guardrails, unclear oversight, and no independent analysis of how much it will truly cost.
Waterbury Hospital’s collapse is a tragedy for the community. But rushing to fix a private-sector failure with a taxpayer-funded bailout is a risky prescription.
The union is already shaping the outcome. UConn Health is expanding beyond its means. And lawmakers are committing hundreds of millions in borrowed money to a plan with more political risk than financial logic.
Connecticut’s leaders should hit pause — demand full transparency, fiscal analysis, and a clear exit strategy before turning a local hospital crisis into a statewide liability.
