Sharon Hospital cited new financial evidence in asking the state Office of Health Strategy to reconsider denying the request to close labor and delivery services.
SHARON — Sharon Hospital has petitioned the state Office of Health Strategy (OHS) to reconsider its Final Decision denying the hospital’s request to terminate labor and delivery service.
OHS issued its decision Feb. 5, determining that the application for a Certificate of Need (CON) failed to meet the statutory requirements intended to protect the “quality, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness of care” in the region served.
In its petition filed Feb. 20, the hospital cited new evidence regarding the current state of operations at the labor and delivery operation, as well as evidence relating to the financial health of Sharon Hospital and Nuvance Health, its parent.
The hospital also states that the Final Decision contains factual and legal errors that must be corrected, and that there is good cause to grant the petition “in order for OHS to work with Sharon Hospital to address significant new challenges to the sustainability of the L&D services in the same manner as OHS has to similarly situated providers.”
The petition, filed eight days before Northwell Health announced it planned to combine with Nuvance Health, cites updated evidence that shows the hospital is “on the precipice of having to temporarily suspend the service because it has lost essential physician coverage in recent months.
“The conditions at the Hospital related to the L&D service have meaningfully deteriorated from an already challenged state and further threaten the sustainability of the L&D service and the [hospital’s] ability to operate the L&D unit safely and reasonably.”
The petition also argues that the decision relies heavily on data about Nuvance Health’s finances in 2022, yet doesn’t account for 2023 and 2024 budgeted losses.
Sharon Hospital’s petition also states that OHS committed legal errors in applying certain statutory criteria. It also argues that OHS should reconsider its denial and negotiate conditions “for the closure of the L&D unit,” alluding to the recent agreement OHS entered with Windham Hospital in Willimantic that received approval to close its L&D unit “subject to certain conditions.”
Christina McCulloch, president of Sharon Hospital, confirmed that the announcement of Nuvance’s agreement with Northwell Health will not alter Sharon Hospital’s pursuit of permission to terminate its labor and delivery services.
“Nothing has been approved with Northwell Health,” said McCulloch. “It has to go through the regulatory process, which we think could take a year or more.”
She said that with regards to the petition for reconsideration, “nothing will change.” The petition for reconsideration, she said, is “just another step in the regulatory process with the Office of Health Strategy. And we await their response to that.”
CORNWALL — Looking ahead to the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026, Cornwall started coordinating with nearby towns to plan events.
“We’re trying to spread them out and not overlap too much,” said First Selectman Gordon Ridgway at a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen Tuesday, Oct. 21.
Ridgway and Warren Stevens, a Revolutionary War reenactor based in Cornwall, attended a meeting the previous week in Litchfield with other Northwest Corner towns.
The group plans to launch a website and calendar to organize the listings.
Ridgway reported some of the events being planned.
Cornwall is preparing for a militia day in June with Revolutionary War reenactors on the village green.
North Canaan will celebrate George Washington’s birthday in February at the Colonial Theatre.
Litchfield plans to hire redcoat reenactors to pester people downtown.
“There’s a lot of creative, homegrown ideas,” said Ridgway.
Town meeting Nov. 7
The selectmen called for a town meeting to be held Friday, Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m. at Cornwall Consolidated School.
The two agenda items to be voted on will be the approval of the 5-year plan and the town report with audit of fiscal year 2024-25.
SHARON — At a sparsely populated town meeting on Oct. 9, $50,000 from the town’s Undesignated Fund was approved to be allocated towards covering clean-up costs of the old Salisbury-Sharon Transfer Station site on Sharon Road.
The work included building demolition, ground leveling, concrete and metal removal, and the extraction of contaminated soils.
The sum was added to $12,000 that was previously allocated towards the project in last year’s municipal budget, bringing Sharon’s total contribution to $62,000. The remainder of the $200,000 total price tag was paid by Salisbury.
During site remediation in 2023, engineering consultant firm Arcadis conducted an environmental health survey of the area, finding some soil and concrete contaminated by hydrocarbon oil, as well as some soil containing low concentrations of PFAs, commonly known as “forever chemicals” as they do not break down in the environment. The levels of PFAs detected were far below the state Residential Direct Exposure Criteria, a metric used to determine the public health risk associated with contaminated soil.
An earlier study by Anchor Engineering in 2016 also found arsenic at the site, which did exceed the Residential Direct Exposure Criteria in several locations, though Arcadis’ December 2024 report described the concentrations as “near background.”
Water monitoring wells were installed at the site over the summer to continue to survey the area. The first reading, which was done recently, found the soil to be clean, reported Salisbury First Selectman Curtis Rand.
The new 36-meter intermediate jump at Satre Hill is about 90% complete and will be ready for December’s Junior Ski Jump Camp.
SALISBURY — The new intermediate jump at Satre Hill is about 90% complete.
Ken Barker, president of the Salisbury Winter Sports Association, said on Friday, Oct. 24, that the 36-meter jump will be ready for the Junior Ski Jump Camp in late December.
In the spring, a plastic surface will be put on the hill to allow for year-round jumping.
The new jumping tower is made of galvanized steel, aluminum, “and a little plywood,” Barker said.
“Should be maintenance-free for many years.”
All the work was done by local contractors, he added.
held at the Washington Depot Farmers Market Saturday, Oct. 25. A pumpkin prison, made by Michelle Gorra, won first place among adult entries and a cannibal pumpkin, made by Finn Madden, won first place among kid entries. Other carvings included a Day of the Dead head and a “relax-o-lantern.”
