Danbury Hospital to Change Debt Collection Practices

DANBURY, CT — In the wake of a report that showed it had the dubious distinction of suing more patients over unpaid bills than any other hospital in the state, Danbury Hospital has announced it will be softening its collection practices.

"After careful review, we are changing our collection practices on outstanding medical bills to be more empathetic to our patients," said Amy Forni, the public relations manager for Nuvance Health, the company formed in the merger of Western Connecticut Health Network and Health Quest last year. "We understand this can be complicated, and we will continue to work with our patients to best manage any financial hardships."

In 2016, the latest year when complete data is available, nearly half of the 13,824 total medical debt cases filed in Connecticut originated in Danbury's collections department. That's a big jump up from 2015, when Danbury filed 39 percent of the total 11,747 cases.

Connecticut hospitals and other healthcare providers had filed more than 85,000 collection lawsuits between 2011 and late 2016.