All 3 CT Prospect hospitals now under one CEO; Sale still pending

Deborah Weymouth, the chief operating officer of Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals, owned by embattled Prospect Medical Holdings, will take the reins of Waterbury Hospital, the third Prospect facility in Connecticut.

Weymouth will replace Waterbury Hospital CEO Justin Lundbye, who is leaving March 8. Lundbye has been named president of Good Samaritan Hospital in Long Island.

Weymouth, who began her expanded role last week, assumes leadership of Waterbury Hospital as the facility is facing financial turmoil and the sale of the three Prospect-owned hospitals in Connecticut awaits state approval. Yale New Haven Health made a bid in 2022 to purchase the facilities for $435 million but asked Prospect to adjust the purchase price after it was hit with a debilitating cyberattack in August. State approval of the acquisition has been pending for more than a year.

Hospital executives have told legislators that the financial outlook is dire and that, at times, they have had trouble affording items like bed linens.

As months have passed without state approval, health officials, legislators and local leaders said the hospitals face threat of closure, with the Prospect facilities owing tens of millions of dollars to vendors and physicians, and in taxes.

In state taxes alone, Prospect has neglected to pay $67 million, and state officials filed three liens against the California company.

At the hospitals, surgeries have been postponed because health care providers don’t have the needed resources. Contracts with traveling nurses and technicians are in jeopardy and remain in place only on a “week-to-week” basis, physicians at the hospitals said. An anesthesiologist group is suing over nonpayment of more than $3 million. The hospitals were also hit with a cyberattack that crippled operations and set them back further financially.

Weymouth and Lundbye could not immediately be reached for comment.

“I am excited to take on this new role as CEO of Waterbury HEALTH and to work with the hospital’s dedicated physicians, nurses and other staff,” Weymouth said in a prepared statement. “I am committed to ensuring every patient receives the highest quality of care, and strengthening our connections with the community we serve.”

Lundbye had joined Waterbury HEALTH as senior vice president and chief medical officer in 2016. He was named chief executive offer in October 2021.