SHARON — The proposed merger between Essent Healthcare (owner of Sharon Hospital) and Tennessee-based RegionalCare Hospital Partners has passed its first regulatory hurdle in the state of Connecticut. As of last week, when the plan was first announced, it was unclear which regulatory agencies in Connecticut would have to give their approval for the deal to go through. But by Monday, Sept. 12, one thing was clear at least: The state Office of Health Care Access, which was very involved in the conversion of Sharon Hospital from a not-for-profit to a for-profit entity, will not have to pass judgment on the merger.“The Office of Health Care Access has ruled that a Certificate of Need is not going to be required,” said Kim Fox of the Nashville, Tenn., public relations firm Jarrard Phillips Cate and Hancock, speaking for RegionalCare and Essent.As to who else will have to make a ruling on the merger, she said that remains unclear at this point. “The state Department of Public Health will be involved,” she said. But as for other oversight, she said, ”We have started the process with the state of Connecticut and we are following their lead. There’s not a lot of precedent here. Sharon Hospital is still the only hospital in the state owned by a for-profit. It is a process and we are letting the state take the lead.”When asked for confirmation that it will be part of the regulatory process, Bill Gerish, a spokesman for the Department of Public Health said that the Office of Health Care Access is part of the state Department of Public Health. He said he does not know if anyone else in the state government will have to approve the merger.The proposed merger will combine the four hospitals owned by RegionalCare, which are in Florence, Ala., Muscle Shoals, Ala., Ottumwa, Iowa, and Wilmington, Ohio; and the three hospitals owned by Essent, which the press release from the companies describe as “market-leading, non-urban acute care hospitals.” In addition to Sharon Hospital the company has a hospital in Waynesburg, Pa., and Paris, Texas. The merger will have to be approved by regulatory agencies in each of the states where the companies have facilities.No New York state agencies are expected to have regulatory oversight or input, even though Sharon Hospital has a large number of patients from nearby New York towns.Fox said that the decision to combine the two health-care companies was precipitated by the weak national economy and the coming plans for federal health-care reform. “A larger system can operate from a position of greater strength, especially now with the economic climate and health reform on the horizon,” Fox said.Kim Lumia, who is president and CEO of Sharon Hospital, agreed that the merger strengthens the hospital going forward.“Sharon Hospital benefits from becoming part of a larger organization,” she said. “Obviously, there is more economy of scale and we can share best practices. I have met with the RegionalCare partners and I am excited by the possibilities.”Though she said she cannot comment on the corporate-level decision, Lumia said “the management team here will remain in place as well as all employees in good standing. Day-to-day operations will not change.”Growth will continue to be a big focus for Sharon Hospital, which has upgraded and added services in recent years. “We are opening our wound care center on Oct. 3,” she said. “That’s a service for the entire Northwest Corner community that doesn’t exist now. “We’re not looking to stay at status quo,” she said. The hospital is in excellent shape now, with strong financials and very positive feedback, she said.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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