DPH hearing examines Johnson Homes attempted discharge of resident over in-room smoking

The Connecticut Department of Public Health held a hearing Monday, Jan. 27, to consider whether Johnson Home LLC properly issued a notice of attempted discharge to resident Gail Eggleston on Jan. 14, 2025, under Connecticut General Statutes Section 19a-535a.

The hearing officer, Aiden Baum, said the facility bore the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that it complied with the statutory discharge requirements and that he would rule on motions, make findings of fact and conclusions of law, and then issue an order following the hearing.

The facilitys administrator, Dawn Murphy, testified under oath that staff repeatedly found evidence of smoking in Egglestons room and that two separate incidents had triggered alarms and fire-department responses. Murphy said she began reminding Eggleston of the no-smoking rule after she became administrator in July 2023 and that the Johnson Homes house rules, dated June 13, 2023 (facility exhibit A), set smoking limits and a designated smoking area (a gazebo).

Murphy testified that a Feb. 12, 2024, alarm was caused by excessive smokeoutside room 206 and that a Dec. 1, 2024, incident involved ashes dumped into a wastebasket that produced smoke and prompted a fire-department response and the use of exhaust fans. She said staff found cigarette burns and cigarette butts in Egglestons room during a December room inspection and submitted five photographs dated Dec. 28, 2024 (facility exhibit C) that she said showed ash on the floor, burn marks on bedding and cigarette butts in a drawer.

"I went up to her room and . . . you can smell smoke," Murphy said. She told the hearing the house had repeatedly been inspected by the fire marshal and that the marshal had told staff there was still a smell of cigarette smoke in Egglestons room during a recent inspection. Murphy also said the Department of Public Health required staff to check Egglestons room every 15 minutes after the incidents.

Eggleston, who identified herself as unrepresented, testified under oath that she had smoked but said she had not smoked in her room since the December fire incident and that she often smoked in the gazebo. She said she had been told about the no-smoking policy by fire-department personnel after the February 2024 alarm and acknowledged signing house rules when she moved in, though she said she did not recall the exact document.

Eggleston also submitted a sealed letter from her neurologist, Dr. Derek Smith, dated Jan. 13, 2025 (appellant exhibit 2), and she argued that a proposed placement at a homeless shelter would pose a health and safety risk to her. "Medically, I cannot go to a homeless shelter," Eggleston told the hearing, describing prior experiences she said made such a placement inappropriate for her health and safety.

Murphy said she contacted multiple facilities to identify an available bed and that the shelter named in the discharge plan was the only placement with an open bed at the time.

Hearing officer Aiden Baum accepted jurisdictional documents including the Jan. 14, 2025, notice of attempted discharge (record exhibit 1), Egglestons Jan. 16, 2025, appeal (record exhibit 2), and the Jan. 17, 2025, notice of hearing (record exhibit 3). Several facility exhibits containing medical information and the facilitys care plan were sealed when entered; photographs and other non-medical exhibits were entered unsealed.

Both parties were given the opportunity to present evidence and question witnesses. Murphy acknowledged some limitation in contemporaneous written resident complaints, saying some resident comments were not recorded in writing. Baum advised that hearsay can be admissible in administrative hearings if it is reliable and probative.

The hearing concluded without a ruling. Baum said he would review the record, determine whether the facility met the statutory requirements of Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 19a-535a, and issue a written order.

The proceeding was held remotely over Microsoft Teams and was recorded for the administrative record.