Just because you stamp your corporate name on a city amphitheater and control a significant portion of the healthcare branding in the state doesn’t mean you’re the entitled tonic for everything you want and claim.
Last month in an OIB commentary, retired Superior Court Judge Carmen Lopez shined a light on Hartford HealthCare’s land use maneuvering to “install a garish eight (8) foot” illuminated sign on the roof of its property St. Vincent’s Medical Center located in the middle of residential North End.
The Planning and Zoning Commission heard the pleas of Lopez and others Monday night denying the application.
Update from Lopez:
After thanking you for allowing your platform to be used for the betterment of the people of Bridgeport, I wonder, “did someone forget to put the fix in?”
Economic Development was on board, and running interference for the influential.
The heavy hitters, 6 figure executives from Hartford Healthcare put on a full court press. Ray Rizio was the lawyer and Joe Ganim was supportive behind the scenes.
But all this still couldn’t get the Planning and Zoning Commission to roll over, play dead, and give Hartford Healthcare what it wanted.
This can’t be Bridgeport, can it?
Mel Riley, the usually reliable and compliant Republican acting chair, showed an uncharacteristic streak of independence. In the process, he proved that he knew more about spot zoning than Attorney Rizio, and the entire City Attorney’s Office.
Maybe the new members of the Commission, such as Johanna Dorghan didn’t get their marching orders, or maybe they have just had it with Hartford Healthcare lording it over the Park City. In either case, the P & Z deserves credit for standing up to the Economic (anything for the special interest) Development Department and its mouthpiece Bill Coleman. For the time being, a garish sign will not beam from the top of St. Vincent’s eighth story.
The ostensible justification for this sign, according to the lawyers and executives, is to enable the people of Bridgeport and surrounding areas to find the hospital.
Sorry, but this canard doesn’t pass the laugh test. This justification must have been concocted by high-priced public relations consultants, lawyers and executives.
The ordinary Bridgeport resident wouldn’t be so stupid.
From Brian Lockhart, CT Post:
Some zoning board members, including its chairman, Mel Riley, argued they are in the midst of a comprehensive re-write of Bridgeport’s entire zoning code and Hartford HealthCare’s request should be wrapped into that effort.
“To me–and I’m only speaking for me–it (is) spot zoning just to do hospitals, of which there are only two,” Riley said in a brief interview Tuesday. “There are plenty of high-rise buildings that might benefit from increased signage as well. We should look at the whole thing, comprehensively. Not cherry pick one building at a time.”
Other critics complained about the potential light pollution for residents living around the medical facilities and feared setting a precedent for large, garish signs on tall structures all around Bridgeport.
… Raymond Rizio, a prominent land use attorney hired by Hartford Healthcare, argued Monday that several-story hospitals need large signage to stand out across the landscape and guide patients to their doors.
But Riley countered if Hartford HealthCare is relying on a large sign to direct people in need of care to St. Vincent’s, then by that logic patients could mistakenly show up at the amphitheater by the harbor which opened in July. That venue has a large “Hartford HealthCare” sign on the side, not the roof, of the building.
Full story here.
Congratulations to Judge Lopez! She obviously twisted a few of the appropriate ears on Zoning through her published commentary on this issue. Those that are officially charged with looking out for the interests of the people of Bridgeport — those involved in Bridgeport city government, as well as Connecticut state government — would be wise to listen to commentary critical of Hartford Healthcare (HHC), such as that of Judge Lopez. There is an unmistakable, unholy aura, and the scent political excrement, associated with the HHC presence in Bridgeport.
To be sure; HHC is an insidious organization. They are obviously attempting to play monopoly with the Connecticut healthcare delivery system. Their blatant move to purchase political control of the state’s largest city in the form of political ownership of the Mayor (future governor?) and political apparatus of the city, is a clear indication of their designs on the control of the state’s health care delivery system…
Attorney General Tong needs to take a look at the modus operandi of HHC in the context of undertaking an examination of the generally-problematic replacement of the patient-centered healthcare delivery system in Connecticut by one of a corporate/profit-centered mentality exemplified by the multi-headed HHC monster…
I would cite, as an example of the HHC-dominated-healthcare-delivery-nightmare-to-come in Connecticut, a situation where a 97-year-old woman, covered by Medicare and a good (military) private insurance plan (Tricare for Life), recently received a bill from HHC with a heretofore unannounced 150% increase in costs for her routine podiatry visits (retroactive)… Surely, Connecticut — under the present auspices of Governor Lamont, AG Tong, and the current GA/healthcare-related committees — won’t allow such a company, with such illegal practices and intentions as HHC, to take control of the Connecticut healthcare delivery system(!)…
In the meantime, we, in Bridgeport, must be aware of the Devil’s Pact that has been signed by Bridgeport City Hall with HHC, making us ground zero for their unholy healthcare monopoly-game to be launched from our political sulfur pit using our horned ringmaster to rig the political process in their favor — starting from here (and ending in Hartford with a new governor?!).
Are you paying attention to this situation Senator Blumenthal?! This wouldn’t have happened on your watch as Connecticut AG!
Jeff, what the hell are you talking about, “insidious?” This was a business decision by Hartford HealthCare’s, they made a request and it was stated well by the Post, “Some zoning board members, including its chairman, Mel Riley, argued they are in the midst of a comprehensive re-write of Bridgeport’s entire zoning code and Hartford HealthCare’s request should be wrapped into that effort.”
You give a anecodotal story about a 97-year-old woman as the reason why HHC is such a bad hospital with no facts. I’m sorry about what happen to this woman but Jeff maybe you tell me of a hospital that doesn’t have a incident like that but there is a process for this 97-year-old woman to make her complaint. Jeff you should ask why didn’t Bridgeport Hospital get the naming rights.
Jeff, your ending, “In the meantime, we, in Bridgeport, must be aware of the Devil’s Pact that has been signed by Bridgeport City Hall with HHC, making us ground zero for their unholy healthcare monopoly-game to be launched from our political sulfur pit using our horned ringmaster to rig the political process in their favor — starting from here (and ending in Hartford with a new governor?!) Jeff, PLEASE, you should have stop after you said, “Congratulations to Judge Lopez! She obviously twisted a few of the appropriate ears on Zoning through her published commentary on this issue.” Jeff, take your meds.
HHC: Forget your Klieg lights to your stardom and give your nurses and other hardworking staff raises.
Ron: First off; you don’t even seem to understand the difference between “a hospital,” in the ordinary sense, and the more diversified, multifaceted/multidimensional, comprehensive healthcare organization (conglomerate), the latter being of a more corporate, “business-model” nature and of a “business” focus/mentality. HHC is not “a [singular] hospital.” HHC owns/controls several, large, Connecticut hospitals, including Saint Vincent’s Medical Center (as most Bridgeporters know it) as well as many, formerly-independent healthcare delivery organizations, such as the Visiting Nurse Association (and gobbling up more by the day)… Yale New Haven Healthcare is also a healthcare organization and owns and controls several large hospitals, including Bridgeport Hospital… So far, Yale hasn’t sought to dominate our skyline or eclipse the identity of things speaking of BRIDGEPORT — or that should speak of BRIDGEPORT, such as our new, Bridgeport-taxpayer-owned/financed amphitheater…
Now, from the merit(s) of some of your previous writings on this blog, it wouldn’t necessarily be assumed that you are as ignorant, uninformed, and unsophisticated as this present reply to my statement might indicate. You are very adept at spotting the racial “dog whistles” among the comments on this blog, but you seem to be totally naive and innocent about the subtle and not-so-subtle signs of the political maneuvering by self-concerned entities (e.g., HHC) seeking to manipulate socioeconomically-distressed/politically-regressive cities, such as Bridgeport, in pursuit of their corporate goal$… (Did you ever have the opportunity to play the board game Monopoly? Did your ever have the opportunity to become familiar with the anti-trust legislation/measures sought and adopted by the Roosevelt Administrations in the early part of the 20th Century, and the reasons for implementing these measures?…)
Surely you’re not as dim as your latest commentary on this blog would have you appear! Certainly you’re not cheerleading HHC to curry favor from a corporate carpetbagger seeking carte blanche from bad, city actors?!
(What, exactly, was your motive for such inane commentary?!)
Come-on, Ron! You shouldn’t let a bad day put your pen in personal attack-dog mode even as it inverts your head and your rectum…
I hope to see something intelligent from you on this blog in the future. In the meantime, good luck with that; and remember that ignorance is a choice…
Jeff, I totally understand the good and bad of hospital mergers and I have no problem with Judge Carmen Lopez’s commentary about Hartford HealthCare’s request s but my reply to you was about your attacked on HHC where you wrote, “To be sure; HHC is an insidious organization. They are obviously attempting to play monopoly with the Connecticut healthcare delivery system. Their blatant move to purchase political control of the state’s largest city in the form of political ownership of the Mayor (future governor?) and political apparatus of the city, is a clear indication of their designs on the control of the state’s health care delivery system…” Again, you said, “Their blatant move to purchase political control of the state’s largest city in the form of political ownership of the Mayor (future governor?) and political apparatus of the city, is a clear indication of their designs on the control of the state’s health care delivery system…” you have absolutely NO proof of those charges against HHC and if you do then you need to bring them to the FTC.
Thank you to Judge Lopez for researching yet another issue of importance to Bridgeporters especially. (Remember that the two hospitals, St. Vincent’s and Bridgeport, after the passing of Park City more than 30 years ago, are the basis for annual funding from the State to the City because of their non-profit status, but the funding in most years does not exceed 60% or so of the funds that calculations call for.)
So healthcare including hospitals, professional practices, pharmacy availability, and outreach services have changed regularly and large campus like organizations over multiple geographic boundaries have formed to “serve the public by multiple attractive professional services with trust built over time”. They compete for the guaranteed dollars from our healthcare plans and attempt to take our physical temperature by machine when we walk in (COVID awareness) and when we leave with paper or computer surveys of how we feel about our recent interaction with their care. I even received an estimate of professional and hospital charges for an upcoming procedure recently, a first in my experience. Oversight is important as I keep stressing in all of our life affairs.
Two institutions compete but the need for larger and brighter signposts and lights to guide our way seem excessive today and zoning took note it appears. Will one of the competitors pick up the baton to challenge in legal fashion? Time will tell.