State hearing paused after dispute over which agency can hear Masonicare discharge appeal

A Connecticut Department of Public Health hearing on a discharge notice for a resident at Masonicare was paused after the hearing officer said he may not have authority to decide the appeal because the resident appears to be in a nursing home rather than a residential care home. The dispute about which state agency has jurisdiction prompted attorneys to confer and a 10-minute off-the-record recess.

The hearing officer, Mr. Hempstead, representing the Connecticut Department of Public Health, told attorneys he believed the department’s appeals panel handles matters under Conn. Gen. Stat. §19a-535(a), which pertains to residential care homes, and that an appeal arising from a nursing-home discharge ordinarily should be filed with the Connecticut Department of Social Services. "I represent the Department of Public Health. And the appeals that my office hears are appeals filed under 19 a 5 35 a pertaining to residential care homes," he said.

Attorney Matthew Brown of Wiggin and Dana, appearing for Masonicare, said the facility issued a discharge notice, provided copies to the resident’s powers of attorney and uploaded the notice to the Connecticut state portal "as required by the statute." Brown identified two witnesses present for Masonicare, Beverly Bryda and Donna Roussom.

Attorney Robert Santoro, representing Heather Gudutty and Rachel Aqaba, who are powers of attorney for resident Ralph Aqaba, argued the discharge was "not a safe discharge" and said the underlying nonpayment issue had been remedied by filing a Medicaid application. "This is not a safe discharge," Santoro said, and he maintained the nonpayment issue "has been corrected by filing a Medicaid application."

The hearing record shows no formal decision on jurisdiction. After discussing the apparent statutory allocation of appeals, the hearing officer asked the parties if they wished to confer; the attorneys agreed and the hearing was taken off the record for 10 minutes to allow them to discuss next steps. No vote, order, or ruling was entered during the transcript excerpt.

Why it matters: Determining which state agency must hear an appeal affects the procedural path for a nursing-home resident contesting discharge and which protections and review standards apply. The hearing was paused before a jurisdictional determination was made, and the transcript does not record any subsequent filing or agency transfer.

The record available in the transcript excerpt identifies the parties and the procedural question but does not contain a final outcome, a transfer of the appeal, or a formal scheduling order. Next steps were limited to an agreed recess for counsel to discuss jurisdictional options off the record.