Malloy backs unions, vetoes Waterbury Hospital bill
By Justin Haas
HARTFORD, Connecticut: Governor Dannel Malloy sided with health care unions when he vetoed a bill that was key to the acquisition of Waterbury Hospital by Vanguard Health Systems of Tennessee, a national for-profit company.
The bill would have given Vanguard the governance structure it desired to operate, and the veto makes it uncertain whether the acquisition will proceed as desired by Vanguard and Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary.
Mark Ojakian, Malloy's chief of staff, said that the administration had too many questions about the bill and acquisition to sign it into law. He said, "It is incumbent upon us to make sure what kinds of arrangements are going to exist with for-profit hospitals. What is the responsibility to the community? What is the responsibility to the workers? What is the responsibility it has to the state?"