An acute psychiatric hospital at Fairfield Hills would treat bipolar disorder and people suffering from psychosis.

“Those are patients we treat,” said Richard Kresch, MD. The CEO of HealthVest spoke with The Newtown Bee this week, after making a preliminary proposal to the Fairfield Hills Authority a week earlier. Dr Kresch spoke with the authority’s members about his idea for a roughly 100–125 bed, 70,000-square-foot behavioral health care hospital. This week he said the type of hospital he is considering for Newtown treats patients “in acute crisis — those suicidal or unable to care for themselves,” or where “there is an emergency component.”

The most frequent admitting diagnosis is depression, he said.

A person’s average length of stay is eight to nine days, which varies according to the patient, said Dr Kresch.

“We also do medical detox with a stay of a few days,” he added.

HealthVest is “an innovative behavioral healthcare firm that has redefined the psychiatric hospital space,” according to the website USHealthVest.com, which offers details about the Greenwich-based for-profit that has facilities operating in several states.

“We have developed a number of new hospitals before — start-ups in areas in need, and we do this with our own funding,” Dr Kresch said this week. The hospitals are taxpayers, and could employ up to 200 staff.

“It’s very safe, and I think we have always been welcome,” in communities where hospitals are now running, he said.

Dr Kresch sees Newtown as a viable and good location.

“What we believe is, there is a need in Connecticut for geriatric and youth services, that’s what we are thinking about doing, and this location seems ideal, easy to get to, central,” and close to major highways, he said.

He has visited the campus and has been looking at the area of Norwalk Hall and the single family houses, and would likely do new construction, he said.

“Buildings there are very difficult to renovate for a modern hospital,” he said.

Discussions for the proposed reuse are in the early stages, but talks with Fairfield Hills Authority members and town officials, including Land Use Director George Benson have been positive, Mr Kresch said.

Fairfield Hills Authority

The new proposal for reuse that echoes Fairfield Hills’s origins went before the authority and several town officials on Monday, September 22. Dr Kresch’s company acquires distressed facilities or develops new ones, he said.

The company seeks a single-story facility on four to five acres in the area of the single-family houses and Norwalk Hall on the Fairfield Hills campus.

A letter provided to Fairfield Hills Authority and addressed to “Newtown’s Land Use Agency” dated in August, noted an interest for the behavioral health hospital in Newtown, and proposed one of two scenarios: buying or leasing space at Fairfield Hills.

Authority member Ross Carley confirmed on September 25 that the campus land is not for sale, and per the master plan for the land’s reuse, the authority and town welcome lease agreements. The authority by its next meeting hopes to have more details about the HealthVest proposal, he said. FHA’s next regular meeting is scheduled for October 27.

The proposal is a “legitimate possibility,” Land Use Director George Benson had said in a past interview. “We have to negotiate a lot of things, a lot of issues,” following Dr Kresch’s introductory meeting with the authority, he said. Regarding the project’s potential, Mr Benson said, “In general it sounds like a good idea, but again, it’s our property so we have to do due diligence.”

According to meeting minutes, the next step would be for HealthVest representatives to meet with Land Use Agency Director George Benson and town Planning Department member Christal Preszler to further discuss the proposal.