The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Arel joins Nuvance practice in Sharon
SHARON — New to the primary care team, Karen Arel will see patients at Nuvance Health Medical Practice in Sharon.
Arel, a family nurse practitioner, has more than three decades of healthcare experience, most recently as a registered nurse at Nuvance Health’s Sharon Hospital Emergency Department. She has since graduated with her primary care nurse practitioner certification from Perdue University Global and is excited to care for patients seeking family medicine in the community.
“I have always been passionate about providing compassionate care to patients of all ages,” Arel said. “My goal is to build trusting relationships with patients and families and to work collaboratively with them to help them achieve their healthcare goals.”
Throughout her nursing career, Arel cared for patients at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, Sharon Hospital, Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington and Baptist Hospital in Tennessee. She has worked with medical, surgical, intensive care, oncology and critically ill patients of all ages.
Rising to leadership positions, she was director of intensive care at Sharon Hospital from 2006-08 and director or inpatient services there from 200811. Arel received a master’s degree in health administration in 2011 and worked in healthcare technologies management, as well as patient quality and safety improvement.
Sharon’s Nuvance Health Medical Practice is at 29 Hospital Hill Road. To make an appointment, call 860-364-7029 or TTY/ accessibility 800-842-9710.
To request an appointment online or learn more about primary care, visit: www.nuvance health.org/primarycare
O&G donates to CT Children’s
TORRINGTON – O&G Industries recently made a generous donation to the Connecticut Children’s as a part of the company’s Spring Giveback program.
“Connecticut Children’s
is the only health system in Connecticut dedicated exclusively to the care of children. With the number of schools we build, and healthcare systems we support with construction services, we felt Connecticut Children’s was a natural fit to partner with,” said Christina Rossi Oneglia, Vice President of Business Development, in a statement. “We created the Spring Giveback program to respond to the need in the nonprofit community as they recover from the impact of the pandemic.”
Alyssa Horrall, Director of Corporate Relations for the Connecticut Children’s Foundation, said the donation will be directed to the Connecticut Children’s Greatest Need Children’s Fund. This critical resource addresses the highest priority of the moment, as Connecticut Children’s cares for patients and supports families. The fund assures no child is denied care based on their family’s ability to pay - as well as funding additional hours for behavioral health care providers when mental health crisis
spike, according to the statement.
In total, six nonprofit organizations identified and voted on by O&G employees received donations totaling over $40,000 as a part of the initiative. Other organizations identified by O&G employees for donations include Building Homes for Heroes, Connecticut Food Bank, Susan B. Anthony Project, American Cancer Society and the Connecticut Humane Society.
CHH begins main entrance renovation
TORRINGTON — Charlotte Hungerford Hospital has started a renovation and improvement project to its main entrance area, which is expected to continue through the end of September.
During construction, the main entrance at 540 Litchfield Street will be fully closed, and all patients and visitors to the main hospital will be directed to use the outpatient entrance off Litchfield Street as the temporary main entrance.
Patients visiting physician practices and services located in the Memorial and Medical Office buildings will still have full access from the front circle and back parking areas. Those visiting providers in the Turner Coe Annex building should park in the designated parking area behind the Memorial Building and enter through the Annex door for the easiest access.
Patients will still be discharged in the front circle area and should be picked at the glass corridor door between the Main and Memorial Buildings, located to the right of the main entrance.
“We are very excited about the planned improvements to our main entrance and thank everyone for their patience as we move to complete the project as quickly as possible,” said John Capobianco, HHC Regional Vice President for Operations at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, in a statement.
Call 860-496-6666 with questions or for more information.
Real estate report: Sales volume continues upward trend
STAMFORD — Closed sales volume continued to surge in New York’s suburban housing markets in July, significantly exceeding closed unit sales as more properties sold at higher price points, according to data compiled by William Pitt - Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty.
Unit sales, for the first time in over a year, began to decrease in some markets as they competed with a timeframe of unprecedented growth the same month last year. Ongoing lower inventory levels also played a role in
the decreased unit closings.
In Fairfield County, closed volume increased by 5.4 percent versus July 2020 as unit sales declined by 23.9 percent, showing a nearly 30 percent spread between unit sales and closed volume. July demonstrated the first instance of a unit sales decline county-wide since the end of the second quarter of 2020, which marked the beginning of a period of enormous sales increases as large numbers of New Yorkers relocated from the city to the suburbs amidst the pandemic. Although unit sales in July of 2021 could not compete with the record sales of the same month last year, they stood ahead of the same time in 2019, increasing by 6.6 percent even with a notable inventory shortage as available housing shrunk by 48.2 percent versus July 2019 and 34.5 percent versus July 2020.
Other markets served by the company experienced similar trends. The Shoreline region of Connecticut, comprising New Haven County, New London County and Middlesex County, saw declines in unit sales and volume versus last July’s record month, with volume standing well above the same month in 2019, and a consistent 10-15 percent spread between volume and units compared to last year, and 18-30 percent versus July 2019, as more higher priced properties transacted. The story was similar in Hartford County, Litchfield County and the Berkshires, Mass., and all regions are challenged by limited inventory.
In Westchester County, N.Y., dollar volume experienced an uptick of 51.7 percent, and unit sales remained up in this region as well, growing by 31 percent versus July 2020. The company noted that Westchester County’s real estate market reopened following lockdowns last year later than Fairfield County did, slightly delaying the beginning of the record sales period in that region, which may explain why unit sales have not yet encountered a similar declining trend to Fairfield County. Like Fairfield, Westchester’s markets remain ahead of the same month in 2019, and like Fairfield, Westchester’s greatly reduced inventory is impacting sales. Inventory is lower by 31.9 percent compared to July last year, and 50.3 percent compared to July two years ago.
A full review of the data for all market areas, comparing July 2021 to both July 2020 and July 2019, sourced from various MLSs, is available on the firm’s website here.
“While we are not expecting another quarter of huge sales increases versus the third quarter last year, considering how substantially third quarter sales in 2020 dwarfed the same time in 2019, we do believe the continued growth we are seeing over 2019 leaves our markets on exceptionally strong footing,” said Paul Breunich, President and Chief Executive Officer of William Pitt - Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. “With the unparalleled buyer demand in our markets showing no signs of letting up, our outlook is that the incredible activity in our markets should continue for the rest of the year and beyond.”