It's no secret, most of us would like to stay in our own home as we age. Yet, sometimes our loved ones just need a little extra help to remain comfortable at home. That's where Always Best Care can help....we are dedicated to exceeding expectations....always.
They say that your golden years are the best years of your life. For most older Americans, that's how it should be - a time to relax, reflect, and live life in a familiar place. After all, senior citizens in the U.S. have worked tirelessly to build a better economy, serve their communities, and raise families.
However, as seniors grow older, completing daily tasks like showering and enjoying activities such as visiting Lefferts Historic House in Prospect, CT gets harder without someone by their side. Unfortunately, many older Americans aren't able to rely on their adult children for help. The reality in today's world is that family members do not have the skills or time to dedicate to caring for their parents. That's where Always Best Care Senior Services comes in.
Our in-home care services are for people who prefer to stay at home as they grow older but need ongoing care that family or friends cannot provide. More and more older adults prefer to live far away from long-term, institutionalized facilities and closer to the place where they feel most comfortable - their home. Home care in Prospect, CT is a safe, effective way to give your loved ones the care they need when they need it the most.
Home Care Services
Service AreasSince 1996, Always Best Care has provided non-medical in-home care for seniors to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle as they get older. We are proud to have helped more than 25,000 seniors maintain higher levels of dignity and respect. We focus on providing seniors with the highest level of in-home care available so that they may live happily and independently.
Unlike some senior care companies, we genuinely want to be included in our clients' lives. We believe that personalized care is always the better option over a "one size fits all" approach. To make sure our senior clients receive the best care possible, we pair them with compassionate caregivers who understand their unique needs. That way, they may provide care accordingly without compromising their wellbeing.
The Always Best Care difference lies in life's little moments - where compassionate care and trustworthy experience come together to help seniors live a fruitful, healthy life. Whether you are an aging adult that can't quite keep up with life's daily tasks or the child of a senior who needs regular in-home services, Always Best Care is here to help.
Home is where the heart is. While that saying can sound a tad cliche, it is especially true for many seniors living in America. When given a choice, older adults most often prefer to grow older at home. An AARP study found that three out of four adults over the age of 50 want to stay in their homes and communities as they age.
When you begin to think about why, it makes sense. Home offers a sense of security, comfort, and familiarity.
The truth is, as we age, we begin to rely on others for help. When a family is too busy or lives too far away to fulfill this role, in-home senior care is often the best solution. Home care services allow seniors to enjoy personal independence while also receiving trustworthy assistance from a trained caregiver.
At Always Best Care, we offer a comprehensive range of home care services to help seniors stay healthy while they get the help they need to remain independent. As your senior loved one gets older, giving them the gift of senior care is one of the best ways to show your love, even if you live far away.
To give our senior clients the best care possible, we offer a full spectrum of in-home care services:
If your senior loved one has specific care needs, our personal care services are a great choice to consider. Personal care includes the standard caregiving duties associated with companion care and includes help with tasks such as dressing and grooming. Personal care can also help individuals with chronic conditions like diabetes.
Common personal care services include assistance with:
Sometimes, seniors need helpful reminders to maintain a high quality of life at home. If you or your senior has trouble with everyday tasks like cooking, our home helper services will be very beneficial.
Common home helper care services include assistance with:
Using this kind of care is a fantastic way to make life easier for you or your senior loved one. At Always Best Care, our talented caregivers often fill the role of a companion for seniors. That way, older adults can enjoy their favorite local activities, such as visiting Canfield Park in Prospect, CT with friends while also receiving the care they need daily or weekly.
Common companionship services include:
According to AARP, more than 53 million adults living in the U.S. provide care to someone over 50 years old. Unfortunately, these caregivers experience stress, exhaustion, and even depression. Our respite care services help family caregivers address urgent obligations, spend time with their children, and enjoy nearby activities. Perhaps more importantly, respite care gives family members time to recharge and regroup. Taking personal time to de-stress reduces the risk of caregiver burnout. So, if you've always wanted to eat at the local New Mill Restaurant or visit Prospect Park, don't feel bad. Doing so is great for both you and your loved one.
At the end of the day, our goal is to become a valuable part of your senior's daily routine. That way, we may help give them the highest quality of life possible. We know that staying at home is important for your loved one, and we are here to help make sure that is possible.
If you have been on the fence about non-medical home care, there has never been a better time than now to give your senior the care, assistance, and companionship they deserve.
Always Best Care in-home services are for older adults who prefer to stay at home but need ongoing care that friends and family cannot provide. In-home care is a safe, effective way for seniors to age gracefully in a familiar place and live independent, non-institutionalized lives. The benefits of non-medical home care are numerous. Here are just a few reasons to consider senior care services from Always Best Care:
According to AARP, 9 out of 10 seniors prefer to age in place within the comfort of their own home. With in-home care, seniors have a way to stay at home, receive the care they need, and maintain a sense of independence, improving overall wellness.
If you or a member of your family have assumed the role of caregiver for your senior loved one, you know how stressful the job can be. Between caregiver burnout and constant worry, being a family caregiver is hard. In-home care relieves your burden and gives you peace of mind knowing that your older family member is in expert hands.
Unlike nursing homes, where the staff and residents rotate frequently, seniors can foster new friendships and build bonds with their caregiver. Seniors who socialize on a regular basis are often happier, which fosters positivity and leads to increased wellbeing.
No two seniors need the same kind of in-home care assistance. That is why each of our Care Plans is tailored to meet our client's individual needs. We offer plans that cover everything from light housekeeping to more involved duties like transportation to doctor's appointments. Our Care Coordinators will work closely with you to develop a personalized plan to ensure your senior's needs are exceeded.
Always Best Care offers a full array of care options for patients at all levels of health. With our trusted elderly care services, your loved one will receive the level of care necessary for them to enjoy the highest possible quality of life.
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While it's true that some seniors have complicated medical needs that prevent them from staying at home, aging in place is often the best arrangement for seniors and their families. With a trusted caregiver, seniors have the opportunity to live with a sense of dignity and do so as they see fit - something that is unavailable to many older people today.
In-home care makes it possible for millions of seniors to age in place every year. Rather than moving to a strange nursing home, seniors have the chance to stay at home where they feel the happiest and most comfortable.
How much does a senior's home truly mean to them?
A study published by the American Society on Aging found that more than half of seniors say their home's emotional value means more than how much their home is worth in monetary value. It stands to reason, then, that a senior's home is where they want to grow old.
With the help of elderly care in Prospect, CT, seniors don't have to age in a sterilized care facility. Instead, they can age gracefully in the place they want to be most: their home. In contrast, seniors who move to a long-term care facility must adapt to new environments, new people, and new systems that the facility implements. At this stage in life, this kind of drastic change can be more harmful than helpful.
Institutional care facilities like nursing homes often put large groups of people together to live in one location. On any given day, dozens of staff members and caregivers run in and out of these facilities. Being around so many new people in a relatively small living environment can be dangerous for a seniors' health and wellbeing. When you consider that thousands of seniors passed away in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, opting for in-home care is often a safer, healthier choice for seniors.
Aging in place has been shown to improve seniors' quality of life, which helps boost physical health and also helps insulate them from viral and bacterial risks found in elderly living facilities.
For many seniors, the ability to live independently with assistance from a caregiver is a priceless option. With in-home care, seniors experience a higher level of independence and freedom - much more so than in other settings like a nursing home. When a senior has the chance to age in place, they get to live life on their own terms, inside the house that they helped make into a home. More independence means more control over their personal lives, too, which leads to increased levels of fulfillment, happiness, and personal gratification. Over time, these positive feelings can manifest into a healthier, longer life.
More independence, a healthier life, and increased comfort are only a few benefits of aging in place. You have to take into consideration the role of cost and convenience. Simply put, it's usually easier and more affordable to help seniors age in place than it is to move them into an institutional care facility. According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, seniors who age in the comfort of their homes can save thousands of dollars per month.
In-home care services from Always Best Care, for instance, are often less expensive than long-term solutions, which can cost upwards of six figures per year. To make matters worse, many residential care facilities are reluctant to accept long-term care insurance and other types of payment assistance.
With Always Best Care's home care services, seniors and their families have a greater level of control over their care plans. In-home care gives seniors the chance to form a bond with a trusted caregiver and also receive unmatched care that is catered to their needs. In long-term care facilities, seniors and their loved ones have much less control over their care plan and have less of a say in who provides their care.
In-home care is a valuable resource that empowers seniors to age in place on their own terms. However, a big concern for many families and their loved ones is how much in-home care costs. If you're worried that in-home care is too expensive, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that it is one of the most affordable senior care arrangements available.
Typically, hiring an Always Best Care in-home caregiver for a few hours a week is more affordable than sending your loved one to a long-term care facility. This is true even for seniors with more complex care needs.
At Always Best Care, we will work closely with you and your family to develop a Care Plan that not only meets your care needs, but your budget requirements, too. Once we discover the level of care that you or your senior need, we develop an in-home care plan that you can afford.
In addition to our flexible care options, families should also consider the following resources to help offset potential home care costs:
When you or your senior loved one needs assistance managing daily tasks at home, finding a qualified caregiver can be challenging. It takes a special kind of person to provide reliable care for your senior loved one. However, a caregiver's role involves more than meal preparation and medication reminders. Many seniors rely on their caregivers for companionship, too.
Our companion care services give seniors the chance to socialize in a safe environment and engage in activities at home. These important efforts boost morale and provide much-needed relief from repetitive daily routines. A one-on-one, engaging conversation can sharpen seniors' minds and give them something in which to be excited.
At Always Best Care, we only hire care providers that we would trust to care for our own loved ones. Our senior caregivers in Prospect, CT understand how important it is to listen and communicate with their seniors. A seemingly small interaction, like a short hug goodbye, can make a major difference in a senior's day. Instead of battling against feelings of isolation, seniors begin to look forward to seeing their caregiver each week.
Understanding the nuances of senior care is just one of the reasons why our care providers are so great at their job.
Unlike some senior care companies, our caregivers must undergo extensive training before they work for Always Best Care. In addition, our caregivers receive ongoing training throughout the year. This training ensures that their standard of care matches up to the high standards we've come to expect. During this training, they will brush up on their communication skills, safety awareness, and symptom spotting. That way, your loved one receives the highest level of non-medical home care from day one.
While it's true that many seniors prefer to age at home, sometimes in-home care isn't the best fit. For those seniors and their families, choosing an assisted living facility makes more sense. Unfortunately, finding the optimal care facility is easier said than done in today's day and age. That's when Always Best Care's assisted living referral services begin to make a lot of sense.
Assisted living is a form of housing intended for seniors who require varying degrees of medical and personal attention. Accommodations may include single rooms, apartments, or shared living arrangements. Assisted living communities are typically designed to resemble a home-like environment and are physically constructed to encourage the independence of residents.
At assisted living communities, seniors receive help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating. They may also benefit from coordination of services with outside healthcare providers, and monitoring of resident activities to ensure their health, safety, and well-being. Caregivers who work at assisted living communities can also provide medication administration and personal care services for older adults.
Other services offered within assisted living communities can include some or all of the following:
At Always Best Care, our representatives can match your senior's emotional, physical, and financial needs with viable assisted living communities nearby. Results are based on comparative data, so you can select the best choice for you or your loved one.
Always Best Care works closely with local senior living communities to gain valuable knowledge that we then use to help seniors and their loved ones make informed decisions. This information can include basic care and rent, resident availability, and services provided. Because Always Best Care is compensated by these communities, we provide senior living referral services at no extra cost to you.
Some of the most popular assisted living communities to consider in our area include the following:
For many seniors, moving into a senior living community revolves around how and when they want to make a transition to more involved care. Some seniors are more proactive about transitioning to independent living. Others choose to remain home until their care needs or other requirements are satisfied. Remember - our staff is here to help. Contact our office today to learn more about assisted living communities and how we can find a facility that exceeds your expectations.
The first step in getting quality in-home care starts with a personal consultation with an experienced Always Best Care Care Coordinator. This initial consultation is crucial for our team to learn more about you or your elderly loved one to discover the level of care required. Topics of this consultation typically include:
A discussion of your needs and how our trained caregivers can offer assistance in the most effective way
A draft of your care plan, which includes highly detailed notes and a framework for the care that you or your senior will receive
Discuss payment options and help coordinate billing with your insurance provider
Our caregivers are trained to spot changes that clients exhibit, like mental and physical decline. As your trusted senior care company, we will constantly assess and update your Care Plan to meet any new emotional, intellectual, physical, and emotional needs.
If you have never considered in-home care before, we understand that you and your family may have concerns about your Care Plan and its Care Coordinator. To help give you peace of mind, know that every team member and caregiver must undergo comprehensive training before being assigned to a Care Plan.
At the end of the day, we only hire the best of the best at Always Best Care. Whether you need home care in Prospect, CT 24-hours a day or only need a respite for a couple of hours, we are here to serve you.
When you're ready, we encourage you to contact your local Always Best Care representative to set up a Care Consultation. Our Care Coordinators would be happy to meet with you in person to get to know you better, discuss your needs, and help put together a personalized Care Plan specific to your needs.
Hartford HealthCare, one of the two largest health systems in Connecticut, has offered $86.1 million to purchase Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals from Prospect Medical Holdings, the California-based operator that filed for bankruptcy protection in January.ECHN Holdings Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hartford HealthCare, will serve as the “stalking horse bidder” for the two hospitals in the court-supervised sale auction, according to court documents. The “stalking horse” serves as the firs...
Hartford HealthCare, one of the two largest health systems in Connecticut, has offered $86.1 million to purchase Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals from Prospect Medical Holdings, the California-based operator that filed for bankruptcy protection in January.
ECHN Holdings Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hartford HealthCare, will serve as the “stalking horse bidder” for the two hospitals in the court-supervised sale auction, according to court documents. The “stalking horse” serves as the first bidder in a bankruptcy auction whose offer serves as the minimum bid.
Other bidders may submit offers through Oct. 16. A sale hearing, where the bankruptcy court judge will approve the preferred offer, is scheduled for Oct. 24.
Prospect Medical Holdings paid $105 million when it purchased the two hospitals in 2016.
Tina Varona, a spokesperson for Hartford HealthCare, said in an emailed statement that the health system is “excited to explore this opportunity” and “uniquely qualified to transform healthcare for the better in these communities.”
“We have the capability to stabilize and expand the workforce at these hospitals, provide support to enhance quality and safety, and advance strategic investments in people, programs, technologies, facilities, and community partners,” Varona wrote. “Given Prospect’s restructuring proceedings, this is a complex process that will unfold over the coming weeks.”
Deborah Weymouth, president and CEO of Eastern Connecticut Health Network and Waterbury Health, called the bid an “important step” in the sale process.
“We are proud of the exceptional care we provide daily and equally excited about the promise of our future,” Weymouth wrote in an emailed statement on Friday. “Achieving this milestone demonstrates the value that we continue to contribute to our communities and brings us closer to starting a new chapter.”
Rob Blanchard, a spokesperson for Gov. Ned Lamont, said the governor has been focused on ensuring the facilities “transfer to new sustainable long-term operators that will benefit the communities they serve and their incredible staff.” The administration is “very encouraged that Hartford HealthCare has stepped up to help provide continuity of care in the region,” he added.
If Hartford HealthCare prevails in the sale auction, the deal will have to go through the state approval process, known as “certificate of need,” which is overseen by the Office of Health Strategy. OHS and the Lamont administration faced criticism over the time required to approve a failed $435 million deal signed in 2022 for Yale New Haven Health to acquire the three Prospect-owned hospitals.
During the most recent legislative session, lawmakers passed a measure that allows for an expedited timeline for the acquisition of hospitals that have filed for bankruptcy. Under the emergency certificate of need timeline, OHS must issue a final decision within 60 days from when the application is deemed complete.
The acquisition would further expand the footprint of one of Connecticut’s largest health systems.
Hartford HealthCare currently owns a total of seven hospitals across the state, the most of any health system in Connecticut, and earned roughly $6 billion in revenue in 2023. By comparison, Yale New Haven Health had higher revenue in 2023, $6.4 billion, but only owns four hospitals.
The bid announcement marks the latest ownershipdevelopment, after months of silence, for Prospect’s three hospitals in Connecticut — Manchester Memorial, Rockville General and Waterbury Hospital
Earlier this week, the state-owned University of Connecticut Health Center announced that it would submit a bid to acquire Waterbury Hospital. The move is part of a broader strategy by Connecticut’s only public academic medical center to expand its footprint. UConn is also seeking to acquire Bristol and Day Kimball Hospitals as part of that deal.
“We are working with multiple parties that are interested in acquiring Waterbury HEALTH and we expect to advance a stalking horse bid on this portion of our Connecticut operations shortly,” Weymouth, the CEO, stated in emailed comments.
Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, who works as a physician at Manchester Memorial and serves as the co-chair of the state legislature’s Public Health Committee, welcomed the announcement, calling it an opportunity to “reduce private equity’s presence in state healthcare.”
“This is incredibly welcome news for health care in the state of Connecticut. I fully endorse and encourage Hartford HealthCare’s bid to purchase these hospitals, which would preserve local community care in Manchester, Vernon and their surrounding towns and cities,” Anwar wrote in a statement released on Friday.
Vernon mayor Dan Champagne said Hartford HealthCare’s offer brings “new hope” to the community.
“For years we have been working hard to secure Rockville Hospital’s future and this is a major step towards that,” he said.
CT Mirror reporter Dave Altimari contributed to this report.
Unions representing workers at three Connecticut hospitals say they are working to mobilize state officials to fight the potential entry of a for-profit company with private equity ties into bankruptcy sales for Waterbury, Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals.Representatives of for-profit Healthcare Systems of America have visited Waterbury Hospital in recent months, said Dave Hannon, president of Connecticut Health Care Associates District 1199.Hannon, whose union represents nurses and technical staff at Waterbu...
Unions representing workers at three Connecticut hospitals say they are working to mobilize state officials to fight the potential entry of a for-profit company with private equity ties into bankruptcy sales for Waterbury, Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals.
Representatives of for-profit Healthcare Systems of America have visited Waterbury Hospital in recent months, said Dave Hannon, president of Connecticut Health Care Associates District 1199.
Hannon, whose union represents nurses and technical staff at Waterbury Hospital, said workers dread a potential purchase by another for-profit operator. They have had concerns with Prospect due to ongoing concerns about staffing and management.
“We’re doing our best to not allow that to happen,” he said.
Connecticut hospital unions said they plan to enlist more lawmakers to require higher levels of scrutiny for health-care purchases in the next year, similar to a bill on private equity deals that fell short of becoming law earlier this year, Brady said.
“I think it was a mistake to ever allow Prospect to carve out a for-profit healthcare system in the state,” Brady said. “Live and learn, I guess, as long as we learn.”
Healthcare Systems of America is among the four potential bidders who have expressed interest in Connecticut’s three struggling Prospect-owned hospitals, along with Hartford HealthCare, Northwell Health and UConn Health, said John Brady, vice president of AFT Connecticut.
Brady’s union represents unionized workers at Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals.
None of the four potential bidders responded to requests for comment on their interest in Prospect’s Connecticut hospitals. The state’s largest hospital system, Yale New Haven Health, bowed out of the bidding after a soured $435 million deal to buy the hospitals from Prospect ended in dueling lawsuits last year.
Prospect’s top lawyer told Texas bankruptcy Judge Stacy Jernigan that the company would secure at least one “stalking horse” bidder to set a minimum price for the Connecticut hospitals by Aug. 22, but the date passed with no potential buyer secured. The sale process for the Connecticut hospital was not mentioned at all at the bankruptcy court’s most recent hearing, on Aug. 28.
Unionized workers are most concerned about the possibility that a private-equity-linked company could become a stalking horse bidder and then win a bankruptcy auction for a Connecticut hospital, Brady said.
“Private equity in any of the Connecticut hospitals would just be like going from the pot into the fire,” Brady said. “We have heard that the state of Connecticut has sent a message that there would be a problem if they won the bidding.”
Union leaders are most concerned about HSA’s links to private equity and Medical Properties Trust, an Alabama-based firm which owns the land beneath all of Prospect’s hospitals.
Jernigan approved the sale of Prospect’s California hospitals on Aug. 28 to stalking-horse bidder NOR Healthcare Systems, an affiliate of Healthcare Systems of America, in a deal that allowed the company to put $8.5 million down on assets worth more than $600 million. NOR’s main asset was its CEO’s decades-old links to Prospect and MPT, the bankrupt company’s investment banker told the judge.
HSA founder and CEO Michael Sarian, who is listed as the sole executive of NOR in a California state database, served as head of Prospect Medical Holding’s hospital division from 2005 until 2012, then took a job as president of hospital operations for Prime Healthcare Services, another for-profit hospital operator based in California.
While at Prime, Sarian tussled with then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris over the chain’s attempts to purchase six struggling nonprofit Catholic hospitals amid concerns about access and opposition from labor unions. Prime sued Harris over the dispute, a case that was later dismissed.
After the Prime deal was withdrawn, the Catholic hospital system chose to sell to private investment firm BlueMountain Capital Management.
The relationship of for-profit hospital operators and labor unions in California was evoked by SEIU-UHW organizer Maky Peters last month at an Aug. 11 city council meeting in Culver City. A small municipality in Los Angeles County, Culver City is home to Southern California Hospital at Culver City, one of the six Prospect hospitals set to be purchased by Sarian’s NOR Healthcare Systems, pending state approval.
Peters, along with a group of hospital employees, asked the city council to issue a statement of support of unions in the face of the hospital’s impending sale. In arguing for worker support, she cited hundreds of layoffs at St. Francis Hospital in Lynnwood, which was acquired out of bankruptcy in 2020 by Prime Healthcare, under Sarian’s leadership at the time.
“Workers are facing an uncertain future,” Peters said. “We all benefit from good union jobs at these hospitals… and want to maintain these jobs in whatever changes may come.”
Several of the Prospect employees who spoke before the Culver City council had been laid off by Prime Healthcare and workers were concerned about Sarian’s role as a future buyer, Peters said in an interview. The union plans to reach out to California’s current attorney general for to ask for support during the sale process, she added
“Our focus right now is just ensuring that we’re protecting the workers, that we’re protecting patients (and) that we’re maintaining care and the services,” Peters said. “It’s concerning to our members, because they’ve seen what happened at Prime before, and this guy is from Prime.”
A major business bankruptcy case is typically a blizzard of paperwork, with lawyers adding documents into the case’s court file at a pace that runs up costs fueled by $2,000-plus-per-hour billing rates.In the bankruptcy of Connecticut hospital operator Prospect Medical Holdings, a total of 3,107 documents had been filed in North Texas federal court as of Sept. 12 -- some of them dozens or hundreds of pages long. That’s a pace of almost 13 legal documents filed per day since the bankruptcy was announced on Jan. 11.Th...
A major business bankruptcy case is typically a blizzard of paperwork, with lawyers adding documents into the case’s court file at a pace that runs up costs fueled by $2,000-plus-per-hour billing rates.
In the bankruptcy of Connecticut hospital operator Prospect Medical Holdings, a total of 3,107 documents had been filed in North Texas federal court as of Sept. 12 -- some of them dozens or hundreds of pages long. That’s a pace of almost 13 legal documents filed per day since the bankruptcy was announced on Jan. 11.
The running total for professional fees in the Prospect bankruptcy topped at least $60 million as of Sept.15, with the California-based company’s top lawyers claiming more than $20 million of that total for just over eight months of work.
But since Prospect blew past a self-imposed August 22 deadline to launch the sale of its Connecticut hospitals to a new owner, that blizzard of bankruptcy paperwork has slowed to the barest flurry. A mere two or three documents a day have been filed to the online “docket,” or legal record, in recent weeks, as negotiations over struggling Waterbury, Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals drag on behind the scenes.
One exception to the docket slowdown: Bills.
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Payment “requests” from law firms, investment bankers and consultants continue to stream in relating to the Prospect bankruptcy. Those bills are paid out of the bankruptcy “estate,” or pool of money consisting of existing assets and the proceeds from asset sales.
Law firms and consultants top the list of professionals profiting off the health system’s bankruptcy, with restructuring firm Alvarez and Marsal making the most so far, at just over $20 million.
“We move our clients forward, to where they need to be,” Alvarez and Marsal asserts on its website. Other current bankrupt clients of the New York-based firm include Spirit Airlines, FTX Trading Ltd. and DNA testing company 23andMe.
Helping Prospect untangle its finances involved a 26-person team from Alvarez in July, with Managing Director Paul Rundell earning $226,800 for the month, billing for 168 hours at an hourly rate of $1,350. A hard-working associate named Mason Londo nearly matched Rundell’s total for the month, billing for 235.5 hours (nearly 60 hours a week) at a mere $675 an hour.
As for individuals taking home millions, lawyers are the high earners in the Prospect case.
Thomas Califano, Prospect's lead attorney and a partner at Chicago-based law firm Sidley Austin, bills the Prospect estate $2,120 an hour, and had earned just shy of $1.4 million on the case as of the end of July.
Califano, caught several times on courthouse live-streams snapping at his colleagues in a gravely Queens accent, worked on the Prospect case for 93.3 hours in July, and billed the estate $197,796 for the month, according to court documents.
“Meals” was by far the highest category of expenses for Alvarez & Marsal in August, with $7,985.25 billed for dining that month compared to $2,980.39 spent on airfare.
The mounting total for payments to professionals as Prospect’s sales efforts continue to lag have raised concerns for Judge Stacy Jernigan, the Texas judge assigned to the case.
“We’re seeing more and more where a plan is being proposed that doesn’t pay administrative expense claims,” Jernigan said at a hearing on Aug. 20, discussing bankruptcy cases where fees overwhelm the assets of the bankrupt company. “I know that’s one reason why people have fretted so much about Steward Health Care,” she added later in the hearing.
Jernigan has increasingly compared Prospect’s financial woes to the ongoing bankruptcy of Steward, a for-profit chain that ran 31 hospitals in eight states and filed for Chapter 11 on May 6, 2024. Two of the chain’s eight hospitals in Massachusetts have since closed.
Like with Prospect, lawyer and consultant fees in the Steward case have escalated to the point that parties in the case have spoken out.
As of Sept. 9, professional fees in the Steward case totaled more than $304 million, according to a document filed by the state of Massachusetts. Nearly $120 million has been billed by one major law firm, New York-based Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
Calling Weil’s fees “excessive and unreasonable,” Massachusetts criticized all the professionals involved in the bankruptcy for profiting off a situation that compromises its residents’ health and safety as former Steward hospitals close and cut back on services.
“Once the Debtors’ primary operating assets were sold, the Debtors’ experienced and highly compensated professionals should have focused their efforts on minimizing their own expense burden and on preserving the Debtors’ remaining resources in order to maximize value for creditors,” the state argued. “While high rates might be tolerated if truly exceptional results were achieved with great efficiency, that is not the case here.”
The total cost borne by the state in the Steward bankruptcy could top $700 million in Massachusetts, according to an analysis by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
Steward filed a lawsuit in July seeking to claw back dividends from former top executives to help pay its bills in bankruptcy, a plan approved by the judge in the case.
Large, interstate companies like Prospect and Steward who are filing for bankruptcy often hire top talent in the field which drives up costs, said Matthew Beatman, a bankruptcy expert and partner at Bridgeport firm Zeisler & Zeisler.
Chapter 11 cases are particularly complex because companies are seeking to both pay off debts and restructure, Beatman said. Attorneys need a high level of expertise in the bankruptcy code and familiarity with the demands of federal bankruptcy judges.
“You have sophisticated judges who want information. You have sophisticated creditors and other constituencies that are asking questions. You have the Department of Justice that asks questions,” Beatman said. “When you have those additional codes you have to go through, it creates an additional layer of expense.”
Although Prospect only operated 16 hospitals when it filed for bankruptcy (it has since closed two in Pennsylvania), it chose a law firm charging rates similar to those charged by the law firm hired by Steward, nearly twice its size. The top biller for Steward’s law firm, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, charges $2,575 an hour compared to $2,120 an hour for Califano in the Prospect case.
A bankrupt company’s estate is also billed for the professionals hired by the Unsecured Creditors Committee, a group that includes parties like employee unions and towns owed property taxes by the debtor. The law firm hired by the creditors had billed for $8.4 million as of the end of July.
Beatman said he's noticed more health-care companies filing for bankruptcy in recent decades, with five hospital chains filing in 2024, according to news site Becker’s. Unlike bankruptcies in manufacturing and other sectors, health-care cases typically attract more notice from lawmakers and regulators, he said.
“Health-care situations are somewhat unique in the sense that the state is going to really try to work with you, much more than in other cases, to try to make sure the right thing happens,” Beatman said.
Liese Klein is a reporter with CT Insider focusing on the business of health care. She has covered business in Connecticut for 15 years and previously worked at The Hartford Business Journal, New Haven Biz, Business New Haven, the New York Daily News, the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo and the Miami Herald.
State officials and hospital leaders are in high-level discussions concerning the purchase of Bristol, Day Kimball and Waterbury Hospitals by the state-owned University of Connecticut Health Center, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the conversations.Officials are considering a total for the deal that could reach nearly $400 million, sources said.On Monday, members of Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and leadership from the University of Connecticut met with lawmakers to discuss the deal, according to severa...
State officials and hospital leaders are in high-level discussions concerning the purchase of Bristol, Day Kimball and Waterbury Hospitals by the state-owned University of Connecticut Health Center, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the conversations.
Officials are considering a total for the deal that could reach nearly $400 million, sources said.
On Monday, members of Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and leadership from the University of Connecticut met with lawmakers to discuss the deal, according to several people. State Comptroller Sean Scanlon and Lamont’s chief of staff Matthew Brokman were among those in attendance, as well as UConn Health CEO Andrew Agwunobi and UConn Health Board Chair John Driscoll.
Rob Blanchard, Lamont’s spokesperson, said in a statement, “Although discussions are ongoing, it’s premature to discuss final bids or plans around those partnerships.” He added that the governor wants to support UConn Health’s academic and research programs, while ensuring its sustainability.
Representatives for UConn Health could not be immediately reached for comment. Leadership with Bristol and Day Kimball Hospitals deferred to UConn Health for comment. A representative for Waterbury Hospital didn’t provide comment in time for publication Monday.
UConn Health Center, which houses UConn’s medical and dental schools as well as John Dempsey Hospital, has been struggling financially for years, though much of that problem involves fringe benefit and wage costs — driven largely by state government and not by the university itself.
The health center receives about 13% of its funding from the state budget. The bulk of the rest comes from revenue generated by John Dempsey Hospital.
A report released last year, commissioned by the governor and completed by investment banking firm Cain Brothers, found that the health center had too small of a footprint to compete with other academic medical centers in the current market. The health center generated cash flow losses averaging $140 million per year between 2020 and 2023, the consultants wrote.
The report proposed two solutions: either sell John Dempsey Hospital or engage in a partnership with another health system.
Scanlon said Monday that the potential deal now being considered could bring financial stability to the state health center and benefit the communities surrounding Waterbury, Bristol and Day Kimball Hospitals.
“The potential partnerships that are being explored are about two things: strengthening UConn’s long-term fiscal health and making sure that different communities in Connecticut have access to public health and health care,” Scanlon said.
Waterbury Hospital is one of three facilities in Connecticut owned by bankrupt hospital operator Prospect Medical Holdings. The formerly private equity-backed Prospect, which also owned hospitals in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and California, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January.
Prospect’s Connecticut hospitals — Waterbury, Rockville General and Manchester Memorial — have faced longstanding financial and operational problems, including a cyberattack in August 2023.
“There needed to be a public health solution,” Scanlon said in reference to Waterbury Hospital. “And that is what this is.” (Rockville General and Manchester Memorial aren’t part of the proposed acquisition by UConn Health.)
As part of the proposed deal, the state would not only have to purchase Waterbury Hospital but also the land, buildings and equipment from a real estate investment trust, sources said. Prospect acquired Waterbury Hospital in 2016 and then sold those assets to the REIT in 2018.
Connecticut claims Prospect owes it more than $67 million in health provider taxes, also known as hospital user fees, which hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers must pay to the state every year based on their revenues. It has filed a claim in Prospect’s bankruptcy proceeding to recoup the money. Sources said the tax issue is not part of the proposed hospital deal.
On Monday, House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, confirmed the nature of the discussions and said the state is considering borrowing money — bonding — to pay for the hospitals. The state’s goal, Ritter said, is to prevent the hospitals from being acquired by private equity interests.
Ritter added that he had “specific concerns” about how the state would pay for the hospitals. “UConn Health is not in a position to be taking on more debt so my question is, ‘Who is going to pay for it?’” Ritter said.
But he indicated he wasn’t opposed to using bonded funds to make the acquisition. “I think if we feel that it’s important to have strong hospitals and to keep these hospitals from being purchased by another private equity company then it’s fine for the state to bond it,” Ritter said.
Ritter said the other issue is whether the state would have to exceed its constitutional spending cap to make the purchases. He also said that question may need to be put to lawmakers in a special session.
The deal would need to be approved by the University of Connecticut’s Board of Trustees, which holds its next regular meeting on Wednesday. A source said the possible deal will be discussed at that meeting.
Bristol Hospital and Day Kimball, located in Putnam, are two independently owned community hospitals that have also historically struggled financially. In recent years, both have received state funding to help shore up their operations.
Katy Golvala is CT Mirror's health reporter. Originally from New Jersey, Katy earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Mathematics from Williams College and received a master’s degree in Business and Economic Journalism from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in August 2021. Her work experience includes roles as a Business Analyst at A.T. Kearney, a Reporter and Researcher at Investment Wires, and a Reporter at Inframation, covering infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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