Staff have been furloughed and most health care services have been paused at Warren's Insight Hospital and Medical Center Trumbull and Rehabilitation Hospital Hillside, as well as its outpatient facilities.
Insight Trumbull Hospital's emergency room is still open, and lab services and radiology are also operating, a spokesperson for the system said.
Michigan-based Insight Health System took over the two Warren hospitals last year after their previous owner, Steward Health Care, went bankrupt.
Since taking over, Insight has promised the community financial stability at the hospitals, but paused non-emergency services earlier this month.
An Insight spokesperson said Steward has been withholding payments, adding that the pause of services is temporary and they expect to bring staff back within six months.
"Insight is committed to rebuilding both hospitals as nonprofit, physician-led, and patient-centered institutions. In the months ahead, we will redesign operations to be fully independent of Steward’s management, cost structures and legacy software systems," the statement read.
The company did not respond to requests regarding more specifics about the funding challenges, or how many staff would be furloughed.
Health care industry consultant Tom Campanella said the financial situation of the hospitals is in a "free fall."
"The governor's office needs to step in immediately to be able to sort out this issue, address this issue, and find fixes, because people's health status’ are impacted," he said.
What's happening to the Trumbull County hospitals follows a pattern of health care disinvestment seen in other mostly rural counties, Campanella said.
“The issue really is the health care needs of rural America, which have been long neglected by both Democrat and Republican administrations at both the federal and state level," he said.
