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Inez Godburn
Mar 05, 2024
NORTH CANAAN, Conn. — Inez (Delaini) Godburn passed away peacefully on March 4, 2024, at Geer Nursing Home after a brief illness, with her children at her side. She was 101.
Inez was the widow of John E. (“Jack”) Godburn, Sr., who died in 2009.
Her family was her life: Inez had seven brothers and sisters, 10 children, 15 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Inez’s parents were born in Italy, her father Domenico in 1870 and her mother Genoveffa (Perotti) in 1880. They came to America through Ellis Island in the early 1900s.
The youngest in her family, Inez was born Dec. 2, 1922, in East Canaan. Her older brothers and sisters, Egilio (Gene), Lena, Louise, Italio, Enrico, Andrew and Mary, all predeceased her.
As a child, Inez attended the East Canaan school on Route 44 at Furnace Hill Road. She always remembered the unplowed winter roads of the 1920s and 1930s and how the children would hope for tire or wagon tracks in the snow to assist their long, cold walk to school. She also attended Canaan Center School.
In the 1940s, Inez worked at The Conley Inn in Torrington (later The Yankee Pedlar). She also worked in later years at Johnny’s and Charlie’s restaurants in Canaan, and at the Colonial Theatre.
Renowned as a cook, Inez learned from her mother how to make many dishes from scratch. She recalled how her mother would behead, pluck, stuff, roast and baste a chicken every week for Sunday dinner.
Inez made wonderful lasagna, gnocchi and ravioli, plus stews, roasts, soups, salads, breads, Yorkshire puddings and much else. Mealtimes were ample and memorable. Her spaghetti sauce was so popular it was marketed. Mangia bene!
When her children were growing up on West Main Street in North Canaan in the 1960s, Inez and Jack were very involved in school activities, and Jack was scoutmaster of Troop 22. The backyard pool was a beacon for neighborhood kids, and there were many picnics.
Later the family lived in East Canaan near Inez’s childhood home where they had fruit trees, grapes, greenhouses and a fledgling flower business, and later a florist shop in Canaan.
With the kids grown, Inez made a long-planned trip to Italy with her eldest child, Michele, where she visited Rome and met Delaini relatives. She was predeceased by Michele and her grandson Scott, both of Havelock, North Carolina.
Inez is survived by nine children: Joseph and his wife, Sandy, of Plainville; John, Jr., and his wife, Claudia, of Torrington; Mark of Norfolk; David and his wife, Jill, of North Canaan; Michael and his wife, Gale, of Torrington; Kevin of North Canaan; Deborah of Richlands, North Carolina; Donna and her husband, Joe, of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts; and Brian and his wife, Eileen, of Oakdale.
The funeral will be Saturday, March 9, at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Church in North Canaan, where Inez was a lifelong communicant, and where she volunteered with fundraising and the church’s annual summer barbecue well into her 90s. There are no prior calling hours.
Burial will follow the service in the Delaini family plot at the Cobble Road cemetery in Salisbury. Newkirk-Palmer Funeral Home in North Canaan is in charge of arrangements.
A reception catered by Freund’s Farm will follow around noon or 12:30 p.m. at the Bitterman Center in North Canaan.
The family wishes to thank the nursing staff and aides on Harmony Lane (3rd floor) at Geer, the Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Litchfield County, and St. Joseph’s Church. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to any of these groups in Inez’s name.
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Bridget Starr Taylor
SHARON, Conn. — Sharon Hospital has petitioned the state Office of Health Strategy (OHS) to reconsider its Final Decision denying the hospital’s request to terminate labor and delivery service.
OHS issued its decision Feb. 5, determining that the application for a Certificate of Need (CON) failed to meet the statutory requirements intended to protect the “quality, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness of care” in the region served.
In its petition filed Feb. 20, the hospital cited new evidence regarding the current state of operations at the labor and delivery operation, as well as evidence relating to the financial health of Sharon Hospital and Nuvance Health, its parent.
The hospital also stated that the Final Decision contains factual and legal errors that must be corrected, and that there is good cause to grant the petition “in order for OHS to work with Sharon Hospital to address significant new challenges to the sustainability of the L&D services in the same manner as OHS has to similarly situated providers.”
The petition, filed eight days before Northwell Health announced it planned to merge with Nuvance Health, cites updated evidence that shows the hospital is “on the precipice of having to temporarily suspend the service because it has lost essential physician coverage in recent months.
“The conditions at the Hospital related to the L&D service have meaningfully deteriorated from an already challenged state and further threaten the sustainability of the L&D service and the [hospital’s] ability to operate the L&D unit safely and reasonably.”
The petition also argues that the decision relies heavily on data about Nuvance Health’s finances in 2022, yet doesn’t account for 2023 and 2024 budgeted losses.
Sharon Hospital’s petition also states that OHS committed legal errors in applying certain statutory criteria. It also argues that OHS should reconsider its denial and negotiate conditions “for the closure of the L&D unit,” alluding to the recent agreement OHS entered with Windham Hospital that received approval to close its L&D unit “subject to certain conditions.”
Christina McCulloch, president of Sharon Hospital, confirmed that the announcement of Nuvance’s agreement with Northwell Health will not alter Sharon Hospital’s pursuit of permission to terminate the labor and delivery services.
“Nothing has been approved with Northwell Health,” said McCulloch.
“It has to go through the regulatory process, which we think could take a year or more.”
She said that with regards to the petition for reconsideration, “nothing will change.” The petition for reconsideration, she said, is “just another step in the regulatory process with the Office of Health Strategy. And we await their response to that.”
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Nuvance Health to join Northwell
Mar 05, 2024
Bridget Starr Taylor
NEW HYDE PARK — Nuvance Health will combine with Northwell Health, the largest health provider in New York state, to form a 28-hospital system that spans the New York-Connecticut border, the two organizations announced Wednesday, Feb. 28.
Before the agreement is finalized, it must be approved by New York, Connecticut and the Federal Trade Commission.
Nuvance Health, based in Danbury, Connecticut, operates seven hospitals in western Connecticut and Dutchess County, including Sharon Hospital and Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, while Northwell, based in New Hyde Park, operates 21 hospitals and nearly 900 outpatient facilities. According to Northwell, its 85,000 employees also make the system the largest private employer in New York state.
“This partnership opens a new and exciting chapter for Northwell and Nuvance and provides an incredible opportunity to enhance both health systems and take patient care and services to an even higher level,” said Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, in a statement.
Nuvance Health, has been struggling financially. At Sharon Hospital, which loses some $20 million annually, Nuvance hoped to cut losses by closing the maternity ward, which it said loses $3 million a year. Its application to close the unit was denied by Connecticut in February.
Sharon Hospital’s losses are not unique in the Nuvance network. Nuvance as a whole, apart from a $6 million net gain in 2021, has been operating at annual net losses of eight and nine figures since its formation in 2019.
Last summer, its outstanding debt was downgraded again by S&P and by Moody’s; Moody’s noted that Nuvance’s “next several quarters” would be “pivotal.” For its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023, Nuvance posted a net loss of $121.5 million.
In a statement, Dr. John M. Murphy, president and CEO of Nuvance Health, said that “By joining forces with Northwell Health, we are taking a giant leap forward in our shared mission to enhance the quality, accessibility and equity of the health care we provide to our communities.”
In their joint announcement, the two companies stated that “Northwell will make significant investments in Nuvance Health,” and that the “integration” would create more, and better, health care jobs.
Asked what this means in Sharon, Sharon Hospital CEO Christina McCulloch noted that “the details of what will happen, if all gets approved” and the Nuvance system becomes part of Northwell Health, “are yet to be determined.” But, she said, “Northwell has agreed to invest in all of the [Nuvance] hospitals if this does come to be” and if the deal gets approved, the agreement will strengthen SH’s ability to provide care.”
“The news of Nuvance’s merger into Northwell Health comes at a time of general consolidation of healthcare systems across our state,” observed state Rep. Maria Horn (D-64).
“I understand the financial challenges Nuvance has been facing,” said Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding, whose district includes New Milford and Sharon. He continued: “I am encouraged to hear that ‘patient-facing’ jobs are not in jeopardy. I am also encouraged to hear that key investments will be made and that health care access will be increase.”
Harding added: “however, like many, I have significant concerns for myself and my fellow neighbors in the 30th Senate District. Ensuring that existing medical services in our local hospitals remain fully open and operational, particularly Sharon Hospital’s Labor and Delivery Unit, is of the utmost importance to me, and I hope it remains of utmost importance to Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy as they review this merger.”
McCulloch noted that the arrangement between Nuvance and Northwell is not legally considered a merger or an acquisition but an “agreement.”
Also noting Nuvance’s financial difficulties, District 19 Dutchess County Legislator Chris Drago said he hoped that this deal would end Nuvance’s attempts to cut services at Sharon Hospital. He also said that he hopes that it will improve the hospital’s ability to attract and retain staff and medical talent to better serve the community.
“I do worry that typically consolidation drives cost up and quality down,” he said. “I’m cautiously optimistic.”
Horn shared: “In my conversations with Sharon Hospital leadership, it has been suggested that the significant resources of the new system will lead to increased support for Sharon Hospital and the community it serves. I look forward to learning about the system’s strategic commitment to Sharon Hospital specifically, and look forward to a public process at which these questions can be addressed.”
Nuvance and Northwell describe an “integrated healthcare system.” The organizations say that the deal will grant “local communities” access to “coordinated care across western Connecticut, the Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island.” They also promise that both Northwell and Nuvance will “continue to provide care to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay.”
The terms of the deal, which is still subject to state and federal approval, are not clear for Sharon Hospital, said McCulloch.
Amy Forni, a spokeperson for Nuvance Health, said that Nuvance expects to be filing for approval for the agreement in the coming months.
McCulloch noted that the regulatory and approval process could, Nuvance estimates, take a year or more.
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