UPDATE: On Friday, September 8, the OHS granted Sharon Hospital an extension to appeal the OHS's Proposed Decision. The hospital, and its parent company Nuvance Health, now has until October 18, 2023 to file a brief and exceptions seeking a Certificate of Need to close the hospital's Labor and Delivery Unit.
SHARON — Sharon Hospital’s application to close its Labor and Delivery Unit was denied by Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy (OHS) on Tuesday, Aug. 29.
The “proposed final decision” granted Sharon Hospital and its parent company, Nuvance Health, 21 days to appeal the decision. An appeal would continue a five-year battle between Sharon Hospital and members of the local community, led by Save Sharon Hospital, over maintaining the hospital’s labor and delivery services.
Sharon Hospital filed a Certificate of Need to close the maternity unit with OHS in January 2022, citing financial concerns, declining birth rates in Litchfield County, and underutilization of its obstetrics unit.
The hospital, which has cited losses of more than $20 million in a single year, estimated that closing the maternity unit would save $3 million in large part by enabling the hospital to employ some 18 fewer staff members, and cut down on physician fees incurred by after-hours surgery and anesthesia services.
The hospital also described a decline in births at Sharon Hospital, citing fewer than one delivery per day in 2021, and difficulty attracting and retaining trained staff in a rural community.
At an OHS hearing in December 2022, doctors, advocates, and local families rebutted the hospital’s claims that closing the maternity unit would not impact access to adequate care in the region, and raised questions about the hospital’s claim that underutilization of the unit was causing irresolvable financial and safety concerns.
In its Aug. 29 decision, OHS found that Sharon Hospital had not adequately met five of eight applicable criteria to qualify for a Certificate of Need, repeatedly citing testimony from the December hearing, as well as supplementary materials provided by Save Sharon Hospital and others.
Primarily, the decision to reject Sharon Hospital’s application rested on concerns about the closure’s impact on the accessibility of adequate care for pregnant women in the region. OHS emphasized the disproportionate effect this closure would have on people of color, the fastest-growing demographic in the region, and indigent people (more than 48% of Sharon Hospital’s labor and delivery patients paid through Medicaid in 2021).
The decision stated repeatedly that the burden of proof rested with the hospital and that the hospital had not succeeded in providing adequate evidence of either financial or safety concerns, nor adequate plans for alternatives for women in labor seeking care, especially for high-risk and emergent deliveries.
Though the hospital is non-profit, OHS took care to point out that its parent, Nuvance Health, provides financial support to Sharon Hospital, and, having ended 2021with a net increase in assets of $242 million and $1.7 billion in net assets, Nuvance is “by all accounts financially stable,” despite its operating losses at Sharon Hospital.
While there are other five other hospitals within an hour from Sharon, all able to accept women in labor, these options would require patients to make longer drives (the nearest hospital is Charlotte Hungerford in Torrington); OHS also cited concerns about these hospitals’ higher costs and lower safety ratings.
Gregg Pulver (R), Chairman of the Dutchess County Legislature, said that OHS’s decision was responsive to arguments from “representatives on both sides of the state line.” Patients at Sharon Hospital are more often from Dutchess County than from the Northwest Corner.
“Access to rural health care here is in crisis or at risk across the board,” said State Rep. Maria Horn (D-64). Though “it will always be a battle,” she said, “[We need] to keep this thriving hospital alive and vibrant and and helping all of us.”
Andrea Rynn, spokesperson for Nuvance Health, called the decision “concerning and disappointing.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), State Sen. Stephen Harding (R-30), U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-5), Rep. Horn, and State Comptroller Sean Scanlon all spoke in support of OHS’s preliminary decision at a press conference in Sharon Town Hall on Wednesday, Aug. 30.
Blumenthal called on Nuvance not to appeal OHS’s “well-reasoned, fully researched decision.”
“Nuvance has an obligation to listen to its customers, its patients, its community,” said the senator. “I am hopeful that meetings like this one will convince [Nuvance] that it can and should do the right thing.”
Horn drew a contrast between the diverse, fact-based testimonies provided by local healthcare professionals, and Nuvance’s “one single argument, that ‘this is just unsustainable,’ and ‘we can’t afford it.’”
Harding said, “I want to applaud the Office of Health for taking the time, not only with reading the testimony, but the whole process in general. I think they did a great job of listening to all sides of the story.”
Hayes noted that the threatened closure is indicative of national trends in rural and women’s healthcare access. “We have seen women’s reproductive health attacked all over the country,” she said. “So I am excited about today, but also looking forward and committed to […] bringing this 20 year battle [over the future of Sharon Hospital] to an end.”
Nearly all of the speakers thanked the local 501(c)(3) Save Sharon Hospital (SSH) for its instrumental work in preventing the closure of Sharon Hospital’s labor and delivery unit by marshaling skilled testimony from health care workers.
SSH President Lydia Moore, who gave birth to her youngest daughter in Sharon Hospital about two months ago, acknowledged the community for contributing “almost 12,000 pages of public comment,” overwhelmingly in favor of keeping labor and delivery open, as critical to the movement’s success.
Acknowledging that Nuvance can still appeal the OHS decision, Scanlon said, “We’re here today to say that this is good news, but the fight to maintain access to affordable, quality health care, especially when it comes to labor and delivery, is going to continue beyond this morning.”
As of Sept. 4, Nuvance has not yet announced if it will appeal the decision.
“As part of a nonprofit health system, Sharon Hospital faces financial and operational challenges moving forward,” said Rynn in a statement. “We will be considering all options available as we reassess our path forward.”
Residents of Silo Ridge and Amenia Fire and Ambulance volunteers posed with a big check in front of the volunteer ambulance Sunday morning, Nov. 17.
AMENIA — Jamie Vitiello presented a check for $50,000 to the Amenia Volunteer Ambulance Corps Sunday morning, Nov. 17, during the Amenia Fire Company’s pancake breakfast at the fire house.
Vitiello said he heard about the ambulance corps’ need for a life-saving device called the Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System device, or LUCAS device for short. The LUCAS device assists emergency responders in applying chest compressions. The mechanical device can be situated around a person’s chest in the case of cardiac arrest and used to provide compressions that are more consistent and generally safer than a human providing CPR.
“I sent out a text in the morning and then went to Town Hall,” Vitiello said. “By the time I had gotten to Town Hall we had raised $25,000. By the end of the day we had raised the whole $50,000.”
The LUCAS device cost just over $20,000 to purchase. Vitiello said the remainder of the $50,000 donation will go to the Ambulance Corps fund to support regular costs like ambulance maintenance.
The donation was made in the name of Silo Ridge residents in association with the Amenia-Wassaic Community Organization.
MILLERTON — In what Mayor Jennifer Najdek has described as “a huge bump for us,” New York State has awarded Millerton an Intermunicipal Water Infrastructure Grant (IMG) to fund various projects which continuously monitor and improve local water quality. The size of the grant is a generous $5,082,099, an amount which cannot be exceeded.
The official acceptance of the grant, which is application-based, came together fairly quickly as officials had only one week to decide. With the knowledge looming that grant requests may be bypassed or allocated to other communities without a decision being reached, Millerton leadership aligned after careful consideration at a special meeting held last week, signing off on Nov. 8. With the grant now secured, Najdek is optimistic Millerton can now move forward on pending wastewater concerns like water treatment and stormwater projects, saying “This project has great potential to happen now.”
One downside regarding the grant, however, is the impact the award will have on additional grants. As the mayor explains it, this grant differs from others in that it must be combined with other grants and the amount may eventually be reduced, contingent on the awarding of additional grants or projects running under budget.
Najdek also pointed out the downsides of future wastewater projects, citing potential impacts on the implementation of new businesses on Main Street, but it’s a hurdle to leap when — and if — the time comes. Her focus is firm on the benefits of the grant and the projects which may result from the award. She was quick to quell concerns of residents outside the district who have voiced taxation concerns connected to wastewater projects, pointing out they will not be impacted. “This is important,” said Najdek. “It’s about slow, sustainable growth … and it’ll maintain the character of the village.”
Dan Aymar-Blair
MILLERTON — Democrat Dan Aymar-Blair defeated Republican A. Gregg Pulver in the race for County Comptroller, according to unofficial results of the Dutchess County Board of Elections after a count of affidavit and absentee ballots.
As of Friday, Nov. 15, Aymar-Blair was ahead of Gregg Pulver by 850 votes. Aymar-Blair declared victory on Friday.
“I am humbled and honored by the trust Dutchess County residents have placed in me. This victory affirms that taxpayers want a watchdog who will make sure the county’s budget is working for them,” he said in a statement published on the Dutchess County Democratic Committee’s website.
Aymar-Blair, who has experience in municipal finance, currently oversees business operations at New York City’s public school’s special education program, and is serving a third term on the Beacon City Council. He is expected to assume his new post in January, completing the term of former Comptroller Robin Lois. Aymar-Blair would run for reelection in 2025.
Pulver was appointed Comptroller in November 2023 by then County Executive William F.X. O’Neill following the resignation of Lois. Prior to his appointment by O’Neill, Pulver was Chairman of the Dutchess County Legislature. Pulver, a third-generation farmer from Pine Plains, had served several two-year terms as a County legislator and also had served as a local school board member and town supervisor.
“I want to thank all those who supported our campaign over the last 10 months,” Pulver said in a statement on Monday, Nov. 18. “This was an absurdly close race and it’s clear that the work our office has done bringing true fiscal stewardship to the County was a strong message.”
The Board of Elections is scheduled to certify the 2024 elections on Nov. 30.
MILLERTON — The Town of North East discussed the next steps for the Zoning Review Committee during its board meeting on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Edith Greenwood, committee chair and vice chair of the North East Zoning Board of Appeals, joined the Town Board meeting to share what the committee has completed in the last four years.
“The review is a result of the Comprehensive Plan … which was adopted in 2019, and the logical planning progression is a visioning document of where you want your town to go,” Greenwood said. “And the next step is to incorporate those concepts, those goals in your code.”
The Zoning Review committee has spent a large portion of its time redoing the zoning for the Town of North East’s commercial district. This part of the town stretches from Route 44 to the Connecticut border and mostly consists of commercial buildings.
“We retained a consultant who has been the town planner for probably ten years and is very knowledgeable about our situation,” Greenwood said. “We grappled with where to start, and we decided that it made sense to start with commercial.”
According to Greenwood, the most significant change to the code is moving the special permitting process from the Zoning Board of Appeals to the Planning Board. This will prevent applicants from having to go back and forth between different boards.
“There are two other sections which we have had to address because of the complexity of codes and the way it overlaps,” said Greenwood, “but we have not taken a substantive view of the residential, or what we call Land Conservancy, our wetlands issue … We have not made any changes to the outer boundaries of any of the three sections we looked at. We’ve reconfigured the Boulevard District. It currently has six sections. It’s gone down to three sections.”
The committee’s plans show that an applicant requires a special permit and site plan approval, which will allow a municipality an extra level of protection.
“What we are handing over to you today does include some aspects of the residential and the land conservation, but they’re far from flush and where we needed to just pull this together and make sense of the zoning document,” Greenwood said, “There should be a part B to this process, we’re definitely more than halfway through, maybe we are even 60%, but there is more work to be done to complete this code, especially on the housing.”
“What I would really like to point out to people is that this is a committee of volunteers who have met on 90 occasions to go through the zoning of the Boulevard District,” Town Supervisor Chris Kennan said. “That’s a lot of hours of people’s personal time spent trying to make this town better.”
The board reviewed the Town of North East’s budget and announced a new negotiation with Northern Dutchess Paramedics.
Previously, the town had a five-year contract with NDP for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) alongside the towns of Dover and Amenia. The Town of North East paid NDP 2% more each year during the contract.
NDP has recently pitched a new contract with North East that would cost $646,300, increasing its budget by 71%. According to Kennan, with that budget, town residents outside of the Village of Millerton would see an increase in their tax rate by 1.16%.
“That contract ends at the end of December, so we have been negotiating with Northern Dutchess Paramedics over their proposed increase,” said Kennan, “The increase that they had proposed, we’ve written about, we’ve talked about at previous meetings, was really overwhelmingly intolerable for the town. It was a huge, huge increase.”
North East also looked into a different contractor, Empress, who services the western and southwestern parts of the county. However, their proposal was “wildly” more expensive than NDP’s first offer. Now, the town has met with NDP and reached a new contract price of $511,558, a reduction of $134,742.
“The reasons for their increase are that they were locked into a contract for five years, which each year had a 2% increase and going through the period of COVID,” Kennan said. “Everyone knows we have seen inflation in all kinds of different items, in labor costs, particularly in materials, especially medical costs, the cost of an ambulance itself has gone up dramatically, so they were basically struggling to deliver the service to the town for these past few years.”
The town board will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 5:30 p.m. to finalize and adopt the revised budget.
Pro-housing pledge
The Town Board members signed a pro-housing pledge, stating that they were aware of the lack of housing for New York state residents and that income levels negatively affected future economic viability.
“The housing crisis has negative effects at regional and local levels, and whereas we believe that every community must do their parts to contribute to housing growth and benefit from positive impacts a healthy housing market brings to the community,” Town Clerk Tilly Strauss said, reading from the pledge.
Supervisor Kennan said he has met with the management of the Millerton Gun Club to discuss the town’s concerns and to limit the club’s shooting hours.
“I have met with the management of the gun club on multiple occasions and expressed our desire to have them think about not having shooting on Sunday and not having shooting permitted after five o’clock or sundown during the day to give people the opportunity to enjoy their evenings without gunfire,” Kennan said.
The town has received a speed reduction request on Route 22 from Chuck Road to the Village of Millerton line. The request asks the town to reduce the speed limit from 55 to 45 miles per hour.
“Chuck Road to the Village of Millerton has seen increased traffic and dangerous intersections,” Strauss said. “The highway superintendent and the town board have determined that the current speed limit of 55 miles per hour on this portion of Route 22 is too high, resulting in hazardous and dangerous conditions.”
