Patients would likely be shocked to learn that senior managers are not held to the same professional standards as bedside caregivers in Connecticut hospitals. This disparity was called out by University Health Professionals (UHP) member Paul Banach, RN (in photo, above), in a recently published op-ed. He made a convincing argument for state lawmakers to require “hospital leadership to commit to the same ethical principles” expected of doctors, nurses and technicians:
While we hold doctors and nurses to high ethical standards to be mandated reporters and to “do no harm,” there are some hospital workers making decisions that impact patient outcomes who are not required to be licensed- hospital administrators.
We require principals, nursing home administrators, and even hairdressers to be licensed. Somehow, hospital administrators are exempt from the individual accountability that comes with holding a license, and patients in Connecticut hospitals are suffering the consequences.
The past few years we have seen many examples of what is now being referred to as “administrative harm” in healthcare. In Boston, Steward Health stopped paying their medical suppliers and a brand new mother died after giving birth because the hospital did not have basic surgical supplies to stop her from hemorrhaging.
In Connecticut, Prospect Medical paid $424 million in dividends to their shareholders and then filed for bankruptcy at Waterbury, Manchester, and Rockville hospitals. At Waterbury Hospital specifically, Yale alleges that noncompliance with basic safety standards contributed to the death of a patient.
In all of these cases, real people with names made decisions to siphon money to shareholders rather than maintain basic safety standards, putting the public at risk of harm and death. While the Department of Public Health can suspend the license of the hospital for noncompliance, none of the individuals responsible for these reckless decisions were held accountable because they don’t hold an individual license. We don’t allow doctors and nurses to hide behind the hospital’s license, and we shouldn’t allow administrators to either.
St. Francis Hospital in Hartford was founded by nuns – members of our own community who cared deeply about their neighbors, took pride in their noble work, and took home zero executive bonuses. Now, many of our hospitals are owned and operated by out-of-state actors, such as Trinity Health in Michigan and Prospect Medical in California. In order to ensure our hospitals uphold Connecticut values and prioritize patient safety over profit, it is imperative that we license the decision makers and hold them to the same safety and ethical standards as our clinicians.
A legislative proposal in the 2025 session would have created a licensure requirement for hospital administrators that would hold them liable for decisions they make, such as:
- A fiscal or operational decision that causes unreasonable risk or harm to patients;
- An administrative or operational decision that impedes a healthcare provider from adhering to basic standards of practice; &
- Aiding and abetting a healthcare provider with knowledge that the provider is causing patient harm or practicing outside of their scope of practice.
Editor’s note: the specific language was removed during the proposal’s amendment process; the initiative had the support of key lawmakers who have pledged to raise it again next year.
Hospital administrative licensure is self-funding through application and renewal fees. It would protect us and our loved ones from preventable harm caused by unsafe hospital conditions. Many nurses and doctors across Connecticut support it, and they want hospital leadership to commit to the same ethical principles that we do.
Above all, do no harm.
