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Prospect Medical Holdings' debt in Connecticut alone is nearing half a billion dollars, and the hospital operator spent this week deluged by creditors' new court filings as its bankruptcy case winds down.

As the deadline to register opposition to Prospect’s latest Chapter 11 plan neared, objections were streaming into the online court record, with more than 40 filed on Wednesday alone.

The stepped-up legal activity reflects the state of Prospect’s finances after nearly nine months have passed since the hospital operator filed for bankruptcy, with the likelihood dwindling that its thousands of creditors will see much money as losses mount and its hospital sales nationwide lag.

Sales are finally moving forward In Connecticut, where Prospect’s Manchester Memorial and Rockville General attracted an $86 million minimum bid last month from Hartford HealthCare, with an auction scheduled for October 22. UConn Health announced last month that it was interested in making a $13 million bid for Waterbury Hospital, but nothing had been officially filed as of publication time.

As the bankruptcy process enters its tenth month, creditor activity has stepped up and taken up more bankruptcy court bandwidth. As part of its bankruptcy filing on January 11, Prospect reported debts totaling between $1 billion and $10 billion and more than 100,000 separate creditors.

Prospect currently owes $257 million to the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, according to the bankruptcy court’s Proof of Claims docket, an online record of creditor filings. Of that total, $148 million was classified as “secured,” or debt backed by collateral.

Add to that the more than $200 million owed by the three hospitals in delinquent property taxes from cities and towns, unpaid utility bills and overdue invoices, and the hospital chain’s tab in Connecticut rises to at least $457 million in debt.

That’s not counting the amounts owed to entities like the Connecticut Hospital Association, which has filed a lawsuit in state court over the at least $724,715.58 it claims Prospect owes in unpaid dues.

Other creditors include unionized workers at all three of the company’s Connecticut hospitals, who are facing the potential of unfunded pensions as Prospect fails to pay in its promised share. After filing liens against Prospect last year for underfunding the Eastern Connecticut Health Network Inc. Pension Plan by $4 million, the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation filed several more liens this summer relating to a Waterbury Hospital pension plan for technical workers.

In total, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has claims against Prospect totaling $386 million, according to the claims record.Also seeking relief are companies like Bobcat of Connecticut, an East Hartford equipment-rental business that has filed a claim for $8,453.76 against Prospect Manchester Hospital.

Connecticut Radio Inc. of Rocky Hill, says it is owed $2,510.16 for portable radios and batteries ordered by several Prospect hospitals.

Deadline unleashes flood of objections

This week’s court rush was prompted by the deadline to register objections to Prospect’s revised Chapter 11 plan, an important part of the bankruptcy process.

“In light of the considerable uncertainties surrounding the sale processes for the Debtors’ remaining 10 hospitals, the obvious question is why are the Debtors rushing towards plan confirmation?” the medical software companies’ lawyers asked in an objection filed on Wednesday.

Objections to the plan have also come in from groups of patients who have filed malpractice lawsuits, reinsurance companies, a water company and a group of Connecticut landlords seeking assurance that Prospect’s rents will be paid.

Classes of debtors impacted by Prospect’s bankruptcy will have a chance to vote on the Chapter 11 plan and send it to the judge for final approval, said Matthew Beatman, a bankruptcy expert and partner at Bridgeport firm Zeisler & Zeisler.

If creditors reject a debtor’s plan, “you’ve got to go back to the drawing board, and maybe that the court will consider giving you more time to do it,” Beatman said. Total failure to complete a plan can result in the liquidation of a company, he added.

Regardless of the standing of creditors like states, cities and towns, the bulk of Prospect’s assets will likely go to Medical Properties Trust, the Alabama-based company that owns the land underneath the hospitals. In addition to controlling Prospect’s real estate and providing millions in earlier loans, MPT has also lent the hospital operator at least $135 million since the bankruptcy to keep its operations afloat.

When Prospect struck a deal with Yale New Haven Health in 2022 to sell the three Connecticut hospitals for $435 million, MPT laid claim to $355 million of that sum as repayment of its investment, according to a company statement at the time. When the deal fell through and Yale agreed to a $45 million walk-away fee last month, MPT claimed the entire total as partial repayment of its recent loans.

Due to the high amounts of liens and tax liabilities often involved, health-care bankruptcies often result in low returns for creditors, Beatman said. Hospitals or other vital health-care businesses operating a loss also tend to rack up more debt after filing for bankruptcy — like MPT’s loans — which gets sent to the front of the line for repayment under deals struck as part of the financing.

“If these entities have been losing money for quite some time, it makes a realistic dividend somewhat difficult,” Beatman said.

Union creditors hope for sales progress

Connecticut taxpayers may see the state’s debts leveraged, however, as part of UConn Health’s bid to buy Waterbury Hospital. The $13 million bid price disclosed by the UConn Board of Trustees likely comes as part of a package that would see some state and local debt forgiven, according to lawmakers and union leaders who have seen the sale proposals.

Waterbury Hospital union members whose pensions have been underfunded are currently focused on making sure another private-equity-backed firm like Prospect doesn’t buy Waterbury Hospital, said Dave Hannon, president of the Connecticut Health Care Associates District 1199.

Hannon, who also serves as chairman of the Unsecured Creditors Committee as part of Prospect’s bankruptcy proceeding, was speaking in his post as a union leader.

MPT’s role in the bankruptcy threatens to squeeze out many creditors, Hannon said. “They are going to make out here, right? And everyone else is going to fight over scraps. And that’s the way these private equity-leveraged hospital system bankruptcies go.”

Exhausted by years of uncertainty and the aborted deal with Yale, union members are reluctant to celebrate UConn’s planned bid too soon, Hannon said.

“At this point, we’ve had a lot of false starts,” Hannon said. “I think they’re cautiously optimistic. I’m probably a little more optimistic.”

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.

A new book detailing the "haunted" stories and location of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley has dropped just in time for spooky season.

"Haunted Waterbury & The Naugatuck Valley" is the latest work from Connecticut author Michael J. Bielawa, covering paranormal and "haunted" stories from the aforementioned region of the state. Stories in the book range from ghost tales of the 19th century Baldwin Street Demon House in Waterbury to the legend of the Hookman of Great Hill Cemetery in Seymour.

"Connecticut is filled with stories and so many of them have either been forgotten over time," Bielawa said. "These stories were very well known at one time in our state's history. But over time, people shunned those places and the stories became less and less familiar."

Born in the Mohawk Valley area of New York, Bielawa moved to Connecticut when he was little. He said his fascination with the paranormal stemmed from drives with grandfather, who would share the history of different towns they drove through in Connecticut.

"Based on his comments and observations on the histories of these towns, I started to investigate the stories," Bielawa said. "That led me from the history to the paranormal heritage that is up and down the Nauagatuck Valley."

Bielawa said he would discover stories from visiting local libraries, like "Johnny o' the Woods," an individual similar to the famous Leatherman who Bielawa bestowed with the "silver medal for New England wandering hermits."

"Haunted Waterbury & The Naugatuck Valley" is Bielawa's fifth book with The History Press and his first in the "Haunted America" series. Bielawa's other books chronicle the "wicked history" of New Haven and Bridgeport, as well as the history of baseball in Connecticut and beyond. His book on Bridgeport, "Wicked Bridgeport," was awarded the first-ever New England Paranormal Literary Award.

Regarding his latest book, Bielawa said he believes the two stories with the most concrete evidence are that of the Twisted Vine Restaurant in Derby and the tale of the Watertown Wyrm.

The Twisted Vine, centrally located on Main Street in Derby, has been host to a plethora of stories regarding its allegedly "haunted" nature, including plumes of smoke appearing and moving furniture. The restaurant has been the subject of a number of paranormal investigations, including one by the Travel Channel. Food Network even named it to its list of the “Most Haunted Restaurants in Every State.”

As for the Watertown Wyrm, it is allegedly a cryptid serpent that was spotted during the end of the 19th century. A 12-foot snakeskin was allegedly found belonging to the creature, Bielawa notes in the book.

As for why Connecticut is such a hotbed for all of this activity, Bielawa said the state was one of the earliest settlements, and legends and superstitions that came from the Puritans joined the already long-established traditions of the indigenous people. Additionally, the state boasts both seafaring and rural tales that give it a unique blend regarding the types of legends told in the state.

"Right from the beginning of our state's history, there was a foundation of bizarre stories and strange tales," Bielawa said. "It's an honor to be able to preserve the stories."

WATERBURY, Conn. (WFSB) — Three weeks after a critical water main break disrupted service in Waterbury, thousands of residents are still dealing with the aftermath as about 1,500 homes on the east side of the city remain under a boil water advisory.

The break initially caused about half the city’s residents to briefly lose water. While service has returned, the ongoing issues have forced residents back to boiling their tap water as a precaution while crews continue working with a temporary above-ground solution.

“For the first time in about three weeks, there was no water running across the road,” said Mayor Paul Pernerewski, confirming that a weekend repair finally stopped millions of gallons of water from washing down Huntingdon Avenue.

The city has water flowing again through a large black bypass tube connected to a blue tower on Huntingdon Avenue, but the temporary fix leaves the system more vulnerable to breaks, especially as winter approaches.

Water testing is scheduled to take place Tuesday morning, with results expected within 24 hours. If the tests come back clean, residents could be cleared to drink from their faucets as early as Wednesday morning, according to officials.

The timeline for permanent repairs has been complicated by scheduling conflicts with other infrastructure work. The city has three primary water transmission mains, and when two of them aren’t working, problems pile up quickly.

When the Huntingdon Avenue valve broke 20 days ago, the city’s other water main on Thomaston Avenue was already undergoing scheduled maintenance. The city can’t finish permanent repairs on Huntingdon Avenue until the Thomaston Avenue project is completed, hopefully by Thanksgiving.

“Those are risks that we all knew we were going to incur by going down on the line, but a decision had to be made on Thomaston Avenue because it has repeatedly been a thorn in the city’s side for over a decade now,” said Brad Malay, Waterbury Bureau of Water superintendent.

The extended water issues have created daily frustrations for residents in affected neighborhoods. About 1,500 homes lost water pressure over the weekend when the temporary repair was made, forcing residents back to boiling their tap water as a precaution.

Jonathan Martinez is among those still boiling water. Since the break, he says his water sometimes appears discolored and the pressure fluctuates.

“We use water for almost everything, and it’s hard. It’s hard on the housewife and the kids,” Martinez said. “We take care of a baby. So, we’ve got to make sure that water to bathe the baby and stuff, it’s got to be clear.”

“It is an inconvenience. It’s inconvenient to families. It’s an inconvenience for people that work and get up early in the morning, sometimes I don’t have the pressure to even take a shower. When I come home in the evening to cook, it’s all difficult,” Martinez added.

Several Waterbury schools on the east side of the city are still avoiding cooking with water and offering bottled water to students.

There are about a dozen critical valves on the water mains, similar to the 100-year-old one that broke. After the current repairs are finally finished, the city plans to make proactive repairs on some of these aging components.

“Some work, some don’t. Either way we’re going to go through every one of them and figure out what it is that we need to do to make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” Malay said.

Mayor Pernerewski acknowledged the ongoing inconvenience to residents. “I apologize for that, I know that it’s inconvenient, but we were balancing a whole bunch of different goals here,” he said.

While final repairs will take weeks to complete, there is some relief in sight for residents and businesses in the area. Huntingdon Avenue has been closed for weeks due to the ongoing work, but the mayor said he hopes to reopen the road early next week.

Complete repairs to the system could take several more weeks, officials said.