Five Connecticut nursing homes managed by HealthBridge Management L.L.C. filed for bankruptcy after the Supreme Court denied the company’s request to delay a court order calling for the reinstatement of more than 600 striking employees.
The Chapter 11 filing, which includes HealthBridge’s Long Ridge of Stamford, Danbury Health Care Center, Newington Health Care Center, Westport Health Care Center and West River Health Care Center, adds another twist to the ongoing labor dispute.
The affected employees, who are represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) District 1199, initially went on strike last summer after being presented with a final contract offer from HealthBridge that was deemed by the union to be unfair to the employees.
In a December ruling, a federal judge ordered Parsippany, N.J.-based HealthBridge to reinstate the striking employees at their previous positions and to halt the company’s implementation of the new contract. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court denied HealthBridge’s request to overturn the December ruling.
HealthBridge said in a Feb. 25 statement that the Chapter 11 filing seeks relief from “unsustainable union pension and medical benefits costs and other restrictive SEIU labor agreements that hamstring the [five nursing homes’] flexibility and competitiveness.”
The bankruptcy filing pertains only to the five unionized health care centers managed by HealthBridge, and not to HealthBridge itself or any of the other health care centers it manages.
The employees are scheduled to return to work March 3, albeit without a contract.
[Editor’s note: This article has been corrected to note that HealthBridge manages the five nursing homes referenced. A previous version had stated that the facilities were owned by HealthBridge. This article has also been updated to reflect additional information made available in a statement from HealthBridge on the bankruptcy filing.]
