Rockville General Hospital To Be Bought By Yale New Haven Health

VERNON, CT — Rockville General Hospital in Vernon is about to get new ownership.

Yale New Haven Health and Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc. Thursday announced an agreement for Yale to acquire two Connecticut health systems from Prospect that involve Rockville and Manchester Memorial Hospitals and Waterbury Hospital.

The agreement includes the acquisitions of the hospitals as businesses, real estate assets, physician clinic operations and outpatient services. The transactions are subject to all customary regulatory approvals, with both organizations targeting completion of the sales for later this year. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

Here is the breakdown:

• Waterbury Hospital (AKA Waterbury HEALTH) has 357 certified beds
• Manchester Memorial Hospital (AKA Eastern Connecticut Health Network ) has 249 certified beds
• Rockville General Hospital (also an ECHN holding) has 102 certified beds
• ECHN and Waterbury HEALTH have 2,900 employees.
• The hospitals will return to not-for-profit status, and the estate assets of the hospitals will be released from the existing master lease agreement between the real estate owner and Prospect.

"As we begin to emerge from an international pandemic that has devastated many hospitals across this nation, it is critical that we think creatively about sustaining local access to high quality care," Yale Chief Executive Officer Marna P. Borgstrom said. "Innovation has become a watchword for a post-pandemic healthcare environment, and we are all exploring clear opportunities to enhance access to high-quality care while driving down costs. While this is at a very early stage, our goal is to sustain critical access to vital healthcare services directly in these local communities."

ECHN CEO Deborah Weymouth called the agreement "exciting."

She added, "We are proud of our accomplishments and appreciative of the significant investments made by Prospect to increase quality, preserve jobs and respond to the pandemic."

Under the proposal, the three Connecticut-based hospitals would become affiliated with the Yale New Haven Health System, similar in nature to Greenwich and Bridgeport Hospitals, as well as Lawrence Memorial Health. As part of Yale New Haven Health, Waterbury HEALTH and ECHN will be able to "enhance delivery of care across a wide spectrum of primary and specialty services," officials said.

"Working with our partners at the Yale School of Medicine, we believe this could create a seamless and integrated delivery system that would serve the best interests of our patients in the most cost-effective manner possible throughout the state of Connecticut and the entire region," said Christopher O'Connor, president of Yale New Haven Health.

As due diligence is completed and the organizations move towards a definitive agreement, Yale New Haven Health is "focused on preserving jobs in the local communities, supporting employee pensions, and assessing the future capital needs of these facilities," Yale officials said.

Added Yale President Dr. Keith Churchwell, "This relationship makes sense from a patient care perspective. We believe patients will benefit directly from the affiliation of these exceptional health systems with a Connecticut-based academic health system like Yale New Haven."

Vernon Mayor Daniel Champagne was happy with the news.

"Yale is a fantastic, Connecticut-based hospital and it taking over Rockville and Manchester hospitals adds even more credibility, to two quality institutions," Champagne said late Thursday morning. "Yale brings prestige and we are looking forward to working with them."

Added Vernon Town Administrator Michael Purcaro, "We are excited by the news that a world-class healthcare system is coming to our community. As the acquisition proceeds and state regulators conduct their review, we look forward to learning more about how this transition will benefit the hospital, its employees and most importantly the residents of Vernon and surrounding communities.”