State gives OK to new recovery facility in Kent

KENT — An 85-bed recovery and treatment facility proposed for Kent has been approved by the state Office of Health Care Access (OHCA), after initially being denied last November.

Birch Hill Recovery Center is planning an 85-bed inpatient detoxification and intensive treatment facility for men and women ages 18 to 64 who are “substance abusive or dependent,” according to the Certificate of Need that the company (which was created in 2017) filed with OHCA.

The center would be on an 11-acre property near the center of town, behind the transfer station, that was formerly the home of The Kent nursing facility.

Charitable beds

The state gave nine reasons for denying Birch Hill’s application last year.  A main concern was that the for-profit company wouldn’t serve the poorest patients in the state.

In the agreed settlement that was released last Thursday, March 28, the state orders Birch Hill to keep five of its 85 beds available for those patients.

In an interview with The Lakeville Journal on Friday, March 29, Birch Hill developer Ari Raskas said, “We are committing to having five charitable beds to serve the uninsured and Medicaid patients and patients on government payment  programs.”

Medicaid does not reimburse detox facilities that have more than 16 beds, Raskas said. That means that the cost of caring for those patients will not be reimbursed and will be paid for by Birch Hill, as “charitable care.”

Another change noted in the state’s agreed settlement is the number of total beds dedicated to detox. Originally 58 beds were designated as “intensive treatment” beds and 22 were detox beds; the new plan shows 53 intensive treatment beds and 27 detox beds.

The state listed 15 things that Birch Hill has to do to live up to the agreed settlement. A majority of those have to do with providing education to the public about opioid and alcohol addiction.

P&Z approval in place

Birch Hill had already received permission from the Planning and Zoning Commission last year to go ahead with its development plan before the state had denied the application. 

That permission still is in effect so construction can begin immediately. 

Raskas said that his company will now purchase the property from owner Apple Rehab (the appraised value of the property is $3,879,700); until now Birch Hill had been leasing the property.

The Kent was a for-profit facility and was already paying taxes to the town. Kent First Selectman Bruce Adams said that the construction work on the property will bring money to the town in the form of taxes and permit fees.

Overall, he said he has no comment yet on the approval. The town is in the middle of finalizing budgets at this time and Adams said, “I’ve been busy with other things and hadn’t really expected this approval to come now. I haven’t had a chance to digest it.”

Raskas said that construction and renovation work will begin this summer and he hopes the facility will open in 2020. 

“The building has to be brought up to 2019 standards,” he said. Carpets, paint and HVAC equipment need to be upgraded. The rooms will remain more or less the same but each will now have a private bathroom. 

During the initial application process, Raskas had estimated that the renovation could cost as much as $3 million.

When Birch Hill was first formed, Keith Fowler was listed as CEO. During the application process, Fowler had been let go and Raskas has essentially run the business.

He said that a new CEO has been selected, someone with many years of experience in the business, but he would not release the person’s name at this time.

No word from High Watch

One of the biggest obstacles to approval for Birch Hill was efforts by another recovery facility in Kent called High Watch. 

That nonprofit company on Carter Road had been a legal intervenor in the application process with the state and its criticisms of Birch Hill were extensively quoted by the OHCA officials in their initial denial of Birch Hill’s application.

High Watch had also sued the Kent Planning and Zoning Commission after it approved Birch Hill’s plans. After the state denied the application last year, High Watch had dropped its lawsuit against the town. 

A call to High Watch CEO Jerry Schwab seeking his views on the Birch Hill approval was not returned by press time.

After Birch Hill first approached Kent with its plans, High Watch had begun plans for a major expansion. That plan has been under discussion with the Planning and Zoning Commission for more than a year and has not yet been approved.

Raskas said he has no idea whether High Watch will again file suit.

“Our intention going forward is to collaborate with all local treatment providers. We feel that is the way to create the best possible environment for caring for our patients.”

OHCA is now OHS

Spokesmen at the state Department of Public Health said that the approval for Birch Hill was the last decision made on a certificate of need by the now-defunct Office of Health Care Access, which was officially shut down last July but continued to close up cases that were already in process.

 The Office of Health Care Access was replaced by the Office of Health Strategy.