{"id":690853,"date":"2026-03-29T20:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T20:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/690853\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T20:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T20:02:16","slug":"hospital-system-promises-to-invest-amid-financial-strain-senator-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/690853\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospital system promises to invest amid financial strain, senator says"},"content":{"rendered":"

The parent company of Saint Francis Hospital<\/a> is expected to make more investments after financial strain has led to concerns about patient safety, according to Sen. Saud Anwar, co-chair of the legislature\u2019s Public Health Committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anwar said he recently had a frank conversation with Trinity Health of New England<\/a> CEO Montez Carter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him that the hospital needs to do well and the community needs this and he agreed that the community needs the services that we feel are critical,\u201d Anwar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m optimistic because there was a clear acknowledgement that there is work that needs to be done and they\u2019re committing to doing that work. I\u2019m glad to hear that there is a strong commitment to work on the safety and well being of the patients and also strengthen and invest more into the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Office of Health Strategy\u2019s latest annual report on the financial status of Connecticut hospitals reported that Saint Francis Hospital\u2019s total expenses were $914 million with a loss of $54 million and a negative operating margin of 6.4%.<\/p>\n

Anwar said physicians and nurses at the hospital have shared concerns with him about patient safety. He said he is now more hopeful that Trinity Health of New England will invest more in the hospital to address those concerns.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne of the walkways at Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (Aaron Flaum\/Hartford Courant)<\/p>\n

Anwar has said that the hospital serves a large number of patients on Medicaid and the amount of money the hospital receives from Medicaid \u201cdoes not keep the hospital\u2019s financial status healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Melissa Lander, vice president of communications for Trinity Health, said in an email, \u201cTrinity Health has provided more than $1 billion over the past decade in operations and capital improvements across Trinity Health Of New England, including Saint Francis Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur faith-based mission is carried out locally in each community we serve including for the patients and families who depend on Saint Francis and we are committed to keeping that promise,\u201d Lander said.<\/p>\n

Trinity Health operates 92 hospitals across the country. Its local subsidiary, Trinity Health New England, operates Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs,\u00a0Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital and Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford and\u00a0Saint Mary\u2019s Hospital in Waterbury.<\/p>\n

Saint Francis has struggled over the last several years with inadequate staffing and fines from the state Department of Public Health<\/a>. The state Department of Public Health\u2019s contract with an independent monitor to provide additional oversight to the hospital has been extended another six months \u201cto ensure substantial compliance with applicable federal and state statutes and regulations,\u201d according to a letter from DPH.<\/p>\n

Nurses at the hospital continue to report staffing issues and high turnover rates while saying medication errors and delays in patient care are continuing to occur. They also reported several elevators are not working since January, including the trauma elevator.<\/p>\n

Changes to patient\u2019s meals are planned to reduce overall costs, according to an email notification from the hospital. Patients currently have access to a full menu and depending on their diet order can order their choices. Beginning April 1, patients will no longer be able to order their food but will receive a standardized meal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an effort to be good stewards of our resources and remain financially responsible, Food & Nutrition has developed a standardized meal service model across all Trinity Health of New England ministries,\u201d the email notification said. \u201cThis model allows us to continue providing high quality meals while reducing overall cost.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Trinity Health of New England spokesman said that the not-for-profit health care system continuously monitors patients\u2019 needs and adjusts staffing in real time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe file formal staffing plans twice a year as required,\u201d the spokesman said. \u201cWe remain committed to recruiting and retaining excellent nurses so we can meet the needs of the community. We remain committed to exceptional care and to advancing our mission in a rapidly changing health care environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Trinity New England spokesman has said in an email that the hospital takes \u201call patient safety concerns seriously and follows through investigative and quality-review processes whenever issues are raised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patient safety concerns<\/p>\n

Sen. Jeff Gordon, a Woodstock Republican and member of the state\u2019s Public Health Committee, said there continue to be serious concerns about the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to see a lot more being made public to us by the Department of Public Health,\u201d concerning the extent and scope of the problems, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is being done on a daily and nightly basis to make certain that things are being done safely and appropriately? We want to make certain we are being reassured and that the public\u2019s being reassured that DPH is doing all that\u2019s necessary to protect patient safety, patient care but also the safety of staff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A DPH spokesman said in an email that \u201cDPH provides information in accordance with the applicable federal and state law that governs its investigations and regulatory compliance actions including when disclosure is required under the FOIA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon said he was also concerned about patient safety at the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m one of the folks in the legislature that understands hospital care very well, being a doctor, and it\u2019s extremely concerning to me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is extremely concerning when staff are leaving \u2026 or lose their job some other way. And it just feeds into a vicious bad cycle. And something needs to be done. Otherwise, what is the state government waiting for? The whole situation to fall apart?\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, 15 hospitalists left Trinity Health of New England, the majority from Saint Francis, after the health system required them to shift their employment to California-based Vituity within 90 days or risk losing their jobs. An unknown number of nurses have also left the hospital.<\/p>\n

More than 40 radiologists from Advanced Imaging Specialists were to leave Saint Francis Hospital on March 20 after the group sued the hospital for mismanagement and lack of equipment.<\/p>\n

A Trinity Health spokesman said the hospital has successfully transitioned its radiologist services as of March 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis transition includes onboarding new radiologists and establishing coverage arrangements and partnerships that ensure uninterrupted 24\/7 diagnostic and interventional imaging services,\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n

Several nurses spoke to the Courant about continued patient safety concerns at the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of safety events that get recorded in a day is massive,\u201d one nurse said. \u201cThings from medication errors to delays in treatments to patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another nurse said that there is not enough staff to care for all the patients.<\/p>\n

Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield also inquired about DPH oversight on the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean this would be the regulatory authority that I would assume would be able to oversee what\u2019s occurring here and be able to step in and do something to address these issues or to ensure that the proper investments are made so that our patients are being taken care of properly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asked if there are any updates to Saint Francis Hospital, a Department of Health spokesman said \u201conce a plan of correction is received and accepted by DPH, they are uploaded and published to elicense.\u201d<\/p>\n

The elicense page<\/a> includes information on a hospital\u2019s license and any plan of correction reports from DPH. Saint Francis\u2019s page shows 14 plans of correction since 2019, with the most recent from October 2025.<\/p>\n

Saint Francis Hospital earned a two-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe overall star rating is based on how well a hospital performs across different areas of quality, such as treating heart attacks and pneumonia, readmission rates, and safety of care,\u201d according to information from CMS.<\/p>\n

CMS also said on its website that the overall rating \u201cbetween 1 and 5 stars summarizes a variety of measures across five areas of quality into a single star rating for each hospital. The five measure groups include mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience and timely and effective care,\u201d according to CMS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The parent company of Saint Francis Hospital is expected to make more investments after financial strain has led…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":690854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[35],"tags":[10019,110366,2738,289468,7000,137292,7001,289474,210,1141,1142,6478,268,289471,728,15704,201814,26325,289473,77401,244514,127336,27557,881,239734,239738,239737,289469,92212,26099,10427,6831,289472,289470,67,132,68,157984],"class_list":["post-690853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-cms","tag-concerns","tag-connecticut","tag-connecticut-state-department-of-public-health","tag-ct-news","tag-dph","tag-hartford-courant","tag-hartford-saint-marys-hospital","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-hospital","tag-investment","tag-johnson-memorial-hospital","tag-local-news","tag-mass","tag-max-image-preview","tag-mercy-medical-center","tag-mount-sinai-rehabilitation-hospital","tag-nurses","tag-ohs","tag-oversight","tag-patient-safety","tag-public-health","tag-saint-francis-hospital","tag-sen-jeff-gordon","tag-sen-saud-anwar","tag-sen-stephen-harding","tag-shift","tag-shortage","tag-springfield","tag-staff","tag-stafford-springs","tag-two-star-rating","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-waterbury"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=690853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/690854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}