What’s up with Birch Hill

KENT — Birch Hill, the proposed for-profit 90-bed drug and alcohol detox and residential treatment facility to open in the building that was formerly The Kent at 46 Maple St., has provoked strong opinions from residents during recent Planning and Zoning Commission meetings. The facility’s application is currently under review.

One of the concerns residents have expressed is not knowing much about the people behind this project. Who are they? Where did they come from? Do they have experience operating this type of facility? 

Last week, The Lakeville Journal spoke by phone with Project Developer Ari Raskas and Project CEO Keith Fowler. They shared information about their own backgrounds, experiences and motives for wanting to open a facility focused on chemical dependency treatment.

Raskas, a career entrepreneur, who has a background in investment banking, currently owns a firm that raises capital for public and private projects. Several years ago he began studying the growing opioid addiction epidemic and realized there was a need for treatment options in the densely populated Northeast. 

Fowler has been in the addiction treatment field since 1991, starting as a counselor’s assistant and working his way up to management level positions before opening a facility in California, which he owned. 

“Helping people deal with addiction has been a passion of mine for the last 26-plus years of my career,” he said.  

The two met through a mutual friend a couple of years ago and soon began working together on a plan to open what they hope will be a pre-eminent residential treatment facility in Connecticut (where  917 people died in 2016 due to opioid-related overdose deaths; 1,078 overdose deaths are projected in 2017).

“There is a tremendous need in Connecticut and the Tri-state area for chemical dependency treatment,” said Fowler. 

“We aim to provide treatment services to everyone from Yale to jail,” he explained, referencing his goal of wanting to provide treatment to the wealthy, those on Medicaid and everyone in between. 

“We are excited about this opportunity to create a best-in-class facility, employing accomplished medical and counseling staff that will customize treatment to each individual patient using the highest industry standards and best practices.”

When searching for a location for Birch Hill, Raskas visited several sites in the central and western parts of the state. 

“It made the most business sense to find a pre-existing building with a prior use as a medical facility and convert it to fit our needs,” he said. The building that was formerly The Kent was a perfect fit.

Once operational, Birch Hill will employ approximately 97 people, who will fill administrative and other roles. Fowler and Raskas themselves will not maintain a daily presence. 

“We plan to hire a CEO to facilitate daily operations along with a medical director, a nursing director, a CFO, counselors and therapists in addition to housekeeping and food service staff, etc.”

“We are hoping to open Birch Hill by the end of 2018,” Raskas said. “We are currently in the process of obtaining a Certificate of Need from the state, and hope to have that in hand by the beginning of next year.” An architect has also been retained to draw up plans for the significant interior renovation that will take place before the facility opens its doors.

“I want to assure the citizens of Kent that we are developing a high-end, safe, secure facility that takes into consideration all of the concerns expressed at the Planning and Zoning Commission meetings,” Fowler said. “We welcome those concerns with open hearts and minds, and have used the interim periods between meetings to develop plans to address those concerns. Our goal is to operate a facility the town will be proud of.”

The next Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is Thursday, Sept. 14,  at 7 p.m. at Kent Town Hall.