Union rep & expert: Insight hospital 'red flags' point to deeper trouble
The halt on services for Insight-owned local medical centers comes after a 24-hour series of developments, each seemingly more chaotic than the last.
The hospital system, already in crisis, took a dramatic turn, marking the latest string of "red flags" that at least one expert said signals deeper trouble.
SEIU District 1199 Union rep. Chrissy Lewis notes Insight had promised a list specifying who would be furloughed by Thursday morning, after previously agreeing it would come Wednesday, Lewis said.
As of Thursday evening, that list hasn't come.
Instead, came locked doors.
"That was one of the things that we've been waiting for was a date [on when the outpatient appointments would be officially cancelled]," she said, "but instead it very abruptly happened this morning, and our workers were told to cancel appointments that were even scheduled for today."
That development came just hours after a Texas company, Post Road Equipment Finance SPV, filed an emergency court order alleging that Insight hasn't paid for previously leased medical equipment and has stopped communication altogether.
Lewis said the mountain of uncertainty leaves her members completely blindsided.
Thursday afternoon, Lewis said, "I've contacted HR today and have not gotten a response as to when we're going to get this [furlough] list, so of right now, my members are waiting to find out if they're going to have a job or not."
Matt Parr of Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) said all of these developments follow a common theme among corporate-backed medical centers and that he's watched scenarios like this play out with other former Steward Health-owned medical centers.
"They cut services, they lay off staff, they basically go to a bare bones operation before, you know, ultimately the finances still don't work and have to close the hospital," Parr said, "Which is devastating for a community."
Although it's unfortunate, he added it's "not surprising."
"It's just a series of financial blunders that have drove Stewart [Health] into bankruptcy, and now there's just lasting effects," He added, "Even though Stewart has transferred its assets over to Insight, there's still lasting effects, financially lasting effects, from all the indebtedness of the hospitals that were under the Steward banner."
He said that often in these situations, it's the patients and the healthcare workers that end up caught in the middle of it.
"So it's really not surprising we see this a lot with the hospitals we've tracked, like Stewart: services being shut down, hospitals being completely closed, workers, nurses, their pay being affected or being laid off," He said. "It's a really sad story."
