Testing the political clout of the community and more than 1,700 employees, Bristol Hospital has launched a campaign to dismiss the governor's proposed cuts and tax increases that leave the hospital in danger of shutting down.
"We just think that we're being disproportionately affected by this budget," said Kurt Barwis, the president and CEO of Bristol Hospital.
A pop-up on the hospital's website warns the hospital will be bankrupt in three to five years, and "Your voice matters!"
It directs emails to state legislators and Bristol's members of Congress.
"They've written, I think, over 600 emails at this point," said Barwis, "and we heard from legislators that they're getting these emails."
At 3.9 percent, Barwis said no hospital in Connecticut suffers a deeper cut as a percentage of its revenue under the governor's proposed budget than Bristol Hospital.
He blames a combination of cuts in what the government pays hospitals for treating Medicaid patients, and state tax increases on hospitals that in theory are reimbursed but in practice are devoted to the state government's budget.
"I'm not saying these are ideal cuts at all," said Gov. Dan Malloy. "But we don't have another half billion dollars to spend."
Three of Bristol's four state legislators are Republicans, while Democrats run the legislature and the governor is a Democrat.
