State health regulators on Monday notified a Westport-based substance abuse rehabilitation facility that it may be operating without approval.
The executive director of the facility, operated by SISU Integrated Health LLC, said Tuesday that his organization does not believe it is violating the law.
The state Office of Health Strategy (OHS) sent the five-page letter dated Dec. 30 to Reginald Silva, SISU’s executive director, stating that his organization “may be in violation of the CON laws of this state.”
According to the letter, SISU filed a Certificate of Need (CON) application in April seeking to establish a “psychiatric outpatient clinic for adults and a freestanding facility for the care or treatment of substance abuse or dependence.” The facility would be located at 228 Saugatuck Ave. in Westport.
“This facility will provide intensive outpatient treatment for substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health disorders to male and female adults (18 to 50+ years of age),” the application states.
According to the letter from OHS, SISU’s application was not deemed complete until July 11, and a hearing on the application was not held until Oct. 9 and not closed until Nov. 20, “and neither a final decision nor a proposed decision therein has been issued to date.”
Because of that, OHS states it has not yet issued a CON to SISU to establish the facility. State law requires CON approval to establish a new healthcare facility.
The letter then asks five questions about the facility and its services, including whether SISU has provided any psychiatric services to patients and, if so, when such services were provided and whether SISU applied to the state Department of Health for any licenses separate from the CON application.
The letter gives SISU a deadline of Jan. 13, 2025, to respond to the questions and to provide any “appropriate documentation.’
Wendy Fuchs, a spokesperson for OHS, said the letter is “just an inquiry to help OHS fully understand the facts.” She added that if SISU is found to have violated CON laws, “they could be subject to monetary civil penalties.”
In a statement emailed to Hartford Business Journal, Silva rejected the state’s assertion that it “may be in violation” of CON laws.
“SISU denies that any such violation has occurred and no such finding has been made by the Office of Health Strategy or any other state agency,” Silva said in his statement. “Based on the above, any publication that SISU is violating state CON laws would be false and harm the business reputation of our company.”
Silva added that SISU “will fully respond to the OHS investigation letter in due course.”
