English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Waterbury, CT

An embattled Waterbury nursing home, whose Medicare and Medicaid funding recently was terminated, will remain open for an additional month as residents are being relocated to other facilities.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had notified Abbott Terrace in August that it would lose funding beginning Sept. 10 for any new patients and within 30 days for all residents. The move by federal officials effectively closes the 205-bed facility because most of the residents are Medicaid or Medicare recipients and not private payers.

Last week, Abbott Terrace was issued a new termination date of Oct. 9. The facility now plans to move all of its 166 residents out of the building by Nov. 8, said Savannah Ragali, a spokeswoman for Athena Health Care Systems, which owns the facility.

“During this incredibly challenging time, our focus remains steadfast on our residents, their families, and our employees,” she said. “We are committed to working closely with each resident and their responsible parties to help them find suitable care at other facilities. We are equally devoted to supporting our staff — many of whom have served this community for decades — with employment opportunities, either within Athena’s network or locally.”

[RELATED: Abbott Terrace Health Center lost its federal funding. What’s going on?]

Abbott Terrace employs 287 workers, “including 11 team members who have been with us for 30 to 38 years,” Ragali said.

In their letter to Abbott Terrace managers, CMS officials noted that involuntary termination of a provider agreement is generally the last resort after all other attempts to remedy deficiencies at a nursing home are exhausted.

State Department of Public Health officials made several visits to Abbott Terrace over the first six months of this year. The inspections revealed staff shortages, particularly among nurses, large holes in the tile floors and at least one incident where an employee told a resident with incontinence problems “they could smell them in the hallway.”

Ragali said the health department had mandated updates to the building, particularly the flooring, and Athena invested $200,000 in upgrading floors in “specified areas.”

“The facility also earmarked additional dollars for further renovations to benefit the quality of life and life safety of the residents at Abbott Terrace,” Ragali said. She did not specify an amount.

The health department identified further areas needing renovation, including two doors that Ragali said were upgraded.

“Our team did everything possible in the past several weeks to address the physical plant concerns identified by DPH,” she said.

[RELATED: Athena nursing home in Waterbury loses federal funding]

Athena owns 14 nursing homes in Connecticut, including Abbott Terrace.

The state Long-Term Care Ombudsman’s office is helping residents find alternative facilities and aiding in their transition.

“The Office of the State Ombudsman is concerned whenever there is a nursing home closure because it can leave residents and their families facing uncertainty and distress,” Mairead Painter, the ombudsman, said. “Closures raise significant issues regarding the continuity of care, displacement of residents, and the overall well-being of those affected.

“We know that the sudden closure of homes disrupts the stability and security that residents depend on, potentially leading to adverse health effects and emotional distress, but we hope that this outweighs the risks associated with a facility that is not able to offer the appropriate care residents deserve.”

Conn. (WFSB) - The I-Team was the first to report that the State of Connecticut is suing Sunrun, one of the largest solar companies in the country.

The I-Team has now learned Sunrun offered to help a local customer only if he excluded himself from any lawsuits.

Like many others, Michael Hickey from Waterbury was looking for a way to lower his monthly electric bill. He was hoping solar panels would be the answer.

“They were saying anywhere from 25 to 50% reduction in my Eversource bills based on my own solar production,” said Hickey.

Hickey says a Vision Solar salesperson came knocking at his door in August of 2022. While the salesperson worked for Vision Solar, the salesperson was subcontracting for Sunrun. Hickey signed a Sunrun contract that same day.

“It was like once he walked out the door, everything just started to go downhill from there,” said Hickey.

Hickey says he agreed to have all the solar panels installed on the front of his home, but the day of installation he discovered they were installing panels in the back. Trees shade the backyard of his home for the majority of the day. Because of that shade, Hickey has seen little benefit on his monthly electric bill.

“It’s never been to the point where I opened up an Eversource bill and was like wow solar is really paying off,” said Hickey.

Hickey brought his concerns straight to Sunrun. Due to the underproduction of the system, he says Sunrun was offering to lower his monthly bill by around $30. However, Hickey says he was told he’d have to first sign a document which states “you agree to release Sunrun and their respective past, present and future partners, subcontractors” etc. from “any and all claims or counterclaims”

“That was not going to fly,” said Hickey. “I’m like well I can’t sign anything that’s going to save me $30 but let them off the hook for all of the other atrocities they’ve done to me.”

Hickey knows that signing that document would release Vision Solar, Sunrun’s former subcontractor, of any liability too. Hickey has a problem with that because Vision Solar was sued by the State of Connecticut in March 2023. Hickey says he was in contact with the attorney general’s office to be involved with the lawsuit, but then in December 2023, Vision Solar filed for bankruptcy. Hickey has listed himself as one of the company’s creditors.

“I was willing to accept the price reduction based on what my system is producing, but I won’t do it to compromise going after Vision Solar for the mistakes they made,” said Hickey.

Sunrun told him the document could not be changed, but then Hickey saw the I-Team’s story about how Sunrun is now also being sued by Connecticut’s attorney general’s office. The lawsuit accuses Sunrun of deceptive, unfair, and otherwise unlawful sales practices. Court records show Sunrun has requested that the judge make certain changes to the lawsuit.

After seeing our report, Hickey called the I-Team for help. Hickey says Sunrun called him to try and work something out only a few hours after we got involved.

Sunrun later sent the I-team a statement saying:

“This system was sold and installed by one of Sunrun’s former third party affiliates, Vision Solar, which we haven’t done business with since early 2023.

Once Sunrun became aware of Mr. Hickey’s concerns with his system, we have been actively working to find a solution so that he can continue to enjoy the benefits of solar and experience monthly savings.”

“The whole idea of solar is still something that I’d be interested in, but after dealing with both companies I’d rather not deal with either of them,” said Hickey.

Hickey says no matter what happens next, he’s already lost time and money. He is still looking over Sunrun’s latest options with his family.

The I-Team put together a half-hour special with more information on what to consider before Going Solar. You can watch the full report here.

Copyright 2024 WFSB. All rights reserved.

The developer of a proposed 650,000-square-foot Amazon distribution warehouse on 183 acres at the Waterbury/Naugatuck Industrial Park has been granted another extension by Waterbury officials to complete the sale and close on the property.

Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski approved a nine-month extension of the deadline, giving the developer until next August to conduct due diligence in completing the deal. The extension comes after a small but vocal group of Naugatuck and Waterbury residents spoke out against the plans for the massive logistics Amazon facility to be built by the Bluewater Property Group, headquartered in New York City and suburban Philadelphia.

The intial presentation of the plans occurred in early September.

Thomas Hyde, chief executive officer of Naugatuck Valley Regional Development Corp. which is representing the two communities in the process, said Wednesday that the public shouldn't read anything into Bluewater's decision to seek another extension for the closing date.

"This is a big project and it takes time to work through everything," Hyde said. "At this point, the project needs approval from the wetlands commission in Naugatuck and the state Department of Transportation because of the amount of traffic this facility is expected to generate."

He said developers will sometimes purchase a property where a large facility is being planned, making the closing of the sale contingent on obtaining the necessary state and local land use approvals. In some cases, a developer will purchase the property first and then seek the necessary approvals, Hyde said.

"In some ways doing it this way is better for the communities involved," he said of the extension on the closing date. "In cases where the purchase of the property comes first, if the project falls through, then you worry about the property's owner just sitting on the property and doing nothing with it."

Pernerewski said Wednesday that city officials have remained in regular contact with Bluewater executives and "the conversations that have had with them have all been positive."

"When they sought the first extension last October, we were a little concerned because in a lot of other places they were building, they were scrapping their plans," Pernerewski said. "But they've made a lot of progress on this project since then and we're very confident this will continue to move forward. This is a very difficult site that they've chosen, especially in terms of the blasting they need to do."

Officials with Bluewater were not immediately available for comment on receiving another extension for closing on the property. A hearing on the project has been scheduled for Oct. 3 in Naugatuck.

Bluewater owns a number of logistics facilities in the Northeast, including one in Johnston, Rhode Island, and another under construction in Charlton, Massachusetts, not far from the Connecticut line and Interstate 84.

The developer's plans were first made public in January 2022.

Concerns raised by residents of the two communities at the informational meeting in early September included truck and employee vehicles snarling traffic at certain points during the day; damage to nearby structures from blasting rock to level the site during construction; any residual impact on nearby property values in having a busy industrial facility in close proximity; and the facility's overall environmental footprint.

Includes prior reporting by Liese Klein, Paul Schott and Alex Soule.