{"id":886452,"date":"2026-10-18T09:06:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/886452\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T09:06:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:06:41","slug":"nurses-staffing-level-at-ct-hospital-increases-safety-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/886452\/","title":{"rendered":"Nurses: Staffing level at CT hospital increases safety risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Hartford HealthCare<\/a> in January took ownership of Manchester Memorial Hospital<\/a> from a bankrupt private equity company that officials said had starved the hospital for resources, a turnaround seemed at hand.<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Nurses say they are struggling to care for the increasing number of patients, as staffing has not kept pace, and patient safety<\/a> at risk. Hartford HealthCare pushed back, citing numerous improvements made at the hospital in recent months.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe new welcome sign at Hartford HealthCare Manchester Memorial Hospital on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (Aaron Flaum\/Hartford Courant)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Sen. Saud Anwar, co-chair of the Public Health Committee, a physician and South Windsor Democrat, said with patient volume increasing at the hospital, \u201cstaffing has not been able to keep pace with the increasing needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, a Fairfield Democrat and co-chair of the Public Health Committee, said that the hospital hired more staff but \u201cadjustments may be needed to adapt to the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaffing in hospitals continues to be a point of conversation in the legislature,\u201d she said. \u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jean Carlo, a traveling nurse at Manchester Memorial Hospital, said \u201cstaffing is not adequate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are taking anything from six to seven, eight patients per nurse and that is not safe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Carlo said he worries about the overall health and well-being of patients at the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really the nurse-to-patient ratio that\u2019s extremely unsafe because if you have that one patient that needs all your attention, the other patient is getting neglected,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlo described the ER as filled with people in the hallways, called boarding, and no space to move patients around.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m waiting hours and hours for critical labs to come through\u2019<\/p>\n

A clinician at Manchester Memorial, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, \u201cI\u2019m noticing a lot of omissions and irregularities in clinical notes and orders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese 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,\u201d the clinician said. \u201cI am waiting hours and hours for critical labs to come through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tina Varona, senior director of communications for Hartford HealthCare, said that the healthcare system was \u201cproud of the expansion of the hospital\u2019s programs, services and the considerable investments made in the campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince January, Manchester Memorial has been undergoing a significant and positive transformation,\u201d she said. \u201cWe 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\u2019s nurse staffing laws and reporting requirements. Our staffing plans are designed to support safe, high-quality patient care.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot new and rebuilt at two CT hospitals. But \u2018we are just getting started,\u2019 CEO says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Cerra said the hospital staffing plan and nurse-to-patient ratios need adjustment to account for the increased workload.<\/p>\n

\u201cI receive complaints about unsafe staffing levels frequently throughout the week,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have a skill mix that is unbalanced. You have burnout. We don\u2019t have enough nurses aides and techs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hospital staffing law does not take into \u201ceffect the acuity of patients and the skill level of the nurses in assigning nurse-to-patient ratios,\u201d Cerra said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Anwar said that he is in favor of increasing penalties for hospitals that violate the hospital staffing law.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Prospect<\/p>\n

Shahrzad Rasekh\/CT Mirror<\/p>\n

Manchester Memorial Hospital (Shahrzad Rasekh\/CT Mirror)<\/p>\n

Brittany Schaefer, public information officer for DPH, said \u201cManchester Memorial Hospital did attest on July 9 that they have been in compliance with the nursing assignments outlined in their plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if DPH has investigated the hospital related to staffing concerns, Schaefer said, \u201cDPH cannot comment on any pending investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking its toll<\/p>\n

Cerra said since COVID, she observed a decline in nurses seeking to serve in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cNurses don\u2019t want to be at the bedside,\u201d she said. \u201cThey certainly don\u2019t want to have bad nurse-to-patient ratios. There\u2019s standards of care that are always being rolled out that we have to meet certain benchmarks and you can\u2019t physically do it if you are running short all the time. They want you to treat the computer instead of treating the patient.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said nurses are exhausted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are working hours over what they\u2019re supposed to be working,\u201d she said. \u201cYou 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\u2019t provide the time to sit with a patient instead of running in and running out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Hartford HealthCare in January took ownership of Manchester Memorial Hospital from a bankrupt private equity company that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[371784,371783,2000,257000,15861,82123,15862,130035,97,252,253,281346,6347,983,192468,168221,371782,128045,311091,204512],"class_list":["post-886452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-aft","tag-chca","tag-connecticut","tag-connecticut-legislature","tag-ct-news","tag-gov-ned-lamont","tag-hartford-courant","tag-hartford-healthcare","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-hospital-staffing-law","tag-insider","tag-local-news","tag-manchester-memorial-hospital","tag-max-image-preview","tag-nurse-to-patient-ratios","tag-prospect-medical-holdings","tag-rockville-general-hospital","tag-sen-saud-anwar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}