Assisted Living Facility, Site Of Staff Fentanyl ODs, Shut Down Again

EAST HAVEN, CT — Shut down in 2021 after the fentanyl overdoses of the only two on-duty staff members, and for myriad fire and safety violations that saw its owner arrested, Caroline Manor Assisted Living facility is once again shuttered by local and state officials.

The state Department of Public Health and East Haven Fire Marshal Charles Miller closed the site Friday. East Haven Fire Department Chief Matt Marcarelli told Patch, "This is a continuation of the original problem and the clock has finally run out."

There are eight patients in the facility that officials are relocating, three or four will go the VA hospital in West Haven, Marcarelli said.

Patch was told the state Attorney General notified facility owner Timothy Conroy, 53, of the shut-down. Conroy was arrested and charged in the fall of 2021 for code violations discovered during a Aug. 26, 2021 inspection of the building by East Haven fire officials and members of the state DPH who, at the time, cited the 37 Clark Ave. facility for 19 fire safety and occupancy safety measure violations.

A long line of local and state official vehicles lined Clark Avenue Friday, where DPH fire safety code compliance officials and personnel from DPH and the ombudsman’s office.

On Sept. 22, 2021, the only two employees working were discovered unresponsive by a visiting nurse. One, a woman and the facility manager, was located on a staircase, and the other employee, a man whose role has not been made public, was located in a lower floor office. The nurse called 911. Both were suffering from fentanyl overdoses, police, and fire officials said.

Read that story and hear the 911 calls here.

A week after the overdoses, Conroy was arrested, and the facility closed, leaving around 20 patients to be moved to different facilities.

Read that story here.

Marcarelli shared with Patch images of some violations officials found, ones that have never been corrected.