When Hartford HealthCare in January took ownership of Manchester Memorial Hospital from a bankrupt private equity company that officials said had starved the hospital for resources, a turnaround seemed at hand.
But along with improvements to the hospital and its services, Manchester Memorial has a new problem: since the hospital joined Hartford HealthCare, the number of patients has increased 20%, nurses at the hospital say.
Nurses say they are struggling to care for the increasing number of patients, as staffing has not kept pace, and patient safety at risk. Hartford HealthCare pushed back, citing numerous improvements made at the hospital in recent months.
Manchester Memorial declined for years under its previous owner, Prospect Medical Holdings, a California-based private equity company that state and federal officials said drained profits from the hospital at the expense of patient care. When Prospect filed for bankruptcy in January 2025, all three of the hospitals it owned in the state, including Waterbury Hospital and Rockville General, were struggling with inadequate staffing, antiquated equipment and financial challenges.
The new welcome sign at Hartford HealthCare Manchester Memorial Hospital on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
A 2024 Connecticut law mandates hospitals maintain safe nurse-to-patient ratios at least 80% of the time. But healthcare unions representing thousands of hospital workers have claimed that few hospitals are in compliance with the law and that state oversight is lacking. The Hospital Staffing Committee in each hospital, which includes nurses, is required to set the nurse-to-patient ratios.
Sen. Saud Anwar, co-chair of the Public Health Committee, a physician and South Windsor Democrat, said with patient volume increasing at the hospital, “staffing has not been able to keep pace with the increasing needs.”
“I am hopeful the administration will put all the resources and efforts into improving the ratios as the flu and respiratory infection increases are anticipated this year that we will have to have enough nursing staff to provide best care,” he said.
State Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, a Fairfield Democrat and co-chair of the Public Health Committee, said that the hospital hired more staff but “adjustments may be needed to adapt to the situation.
“Staffing in hospitals continues to be a point of conversation in the legislature,” she said. “As these issues persist, we need the facts on the ground and to all work together to ensure patient safety and care and a properly staffed hospital system.”
Jean Carlo, a traveling nurse at Manchester Memorial Hospital, said “staffing is not adequate.
“We are taking anything from six to seven, eight patients per nurse and that is not safe,” he said.
Carlo said he worries about the overall health and well-being of patients at the hospital.
“It’s really the nurse-to-patient ratio that’s extremely unsafe because if you have that one patient that needs all your attention, the other patient is getting neglected,” he said. “There’s not enough float nurses to replace the call-outs. The hospital is not equipped for the large number of patients that we are getting on a daily basis.”
Carlo described the ER as filled with people in the hallways, called boarding, and no space to move patients around.
He said a charge nurse and triage nurse are both required on hospital floors, but that he has seen oftentimes charge nurses taking on both roles, spreading themselves thin.
‘I’m waiting hours and hours for critical labs to come through’
A clinician at Manchester Memorial, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “I’m noticing a lot of omissions and irregularities in clinical notes and orders.
“These are very acute patients, who are suspected of having severe illnesses such as a stroke or a heart attack, and because of the staffing shortage we are required to make complex medical decisions much faster and we feel the pressure,” the clinician said. “I am waiting hours and hours for critical labs to come through.”
Tina Varona, senior director of communications for Hartford HealthCare, said that the healthcare system was “proud of the expansion of the hospital’s programs, services and the considerable investments made in the campus.
“Since January, Manchester Memorial has been undergoing a significant and positive transformation,” she said. “We are grateful to the nurses and care teams at Manchester Memorial Hospital who provide high-quality care to our patients every day. Manchester is committed to complying with Connecticut’s nurse staffing laws and reporting requirements. Our staffing plans are designed to support safe, high-quality patient care.”
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Ann-Marie Cerra, president of the local 5055 professional nurses union at Manchester Memorial Hospital and Rockville Hospital, said that Manchester Memorial is sometimes out of compliance with the staffing law because there are not enough nurses to provide the standard of care for patients in the hospital, with the nurse to patient ratio in the ER at 1:4-5 and 1:5-8 on the medical units.
Cerra said the hospital staffing plan and nurse-to-patient ratios need adjustment to account for the increased workload.
“I receive complaints about unsafe staffing levels frequently throughout the week,” she said. “You have a skill mix that is unbalanced. You have burnout. We don’t have enough nurses aides and techs.”
The hospital staffing law does not take into “effect the acuity of patients and the skill level of the nurses in assigning nurse-to-patient ratios,” Cerra said.
CHCA 1199 and AFT Connecticut leadership have alleged that the state Department of Public Health is often not enforcing the hospital staffing law, which carries fines of $3,500 for the first violation and $5,000 for each subsequent violation. They said that DPH lacks adequate staffing to provide ample oversight.
Anwar said that he is in favor of increasing penalties for hospitals that violate the hospital staffing law.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health has said it ensures compliance with all laws, including staffing levels and patient safety. But the agency acknowledged that the onus is on hospitals to complete the attestation that they are complying with the law. However, the agency said it continues to monitor staffing plans.
Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror
Manchester Memorial Hospital (Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror)
Brittany Schaefer, public information officer for DPH, said “Manchester Memorial Hospital did attest on July 9 that they have been in compliance with the nursing assignments outlined in their plan.”
Asked if DPH has investigated the hospital related to staffing concerns, Schaefer said, “DPH cannot comment on any pending investigations.”
Taking its toll
Cerra said since COVID, she observed a decline in nurses seeking to serve in the field.
“Nurses don’t want to be at the bedside,” she said. “They certainly don’t want to have bad nurse-to-patient ratios. There’s standards of care that are always being rolled out that we have to meet certain benchmarks and you can’t physically do it if you are running short all the time. They want you to treat the computer instead of treating the patient.”
She said nurses are exhausted.
“They are working hours over what they’re supposed to be working,” she said. “You replay your day when you go home and put your head on the pillow and worry that you missed 10 things, or that you can’t provide the time to sit with a patient instead of running in and running out.”