Home Care In West Haven, CT

The company released details this week on which of its pharmacies would close following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

WEST HAVEN, CT — In the immediate aftermath of Rite Aid's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, the pharmacy giant announced it will not close its West Haven location.

The only Connecticut store that will close is in Bethel. The remainder of the chain's stores in Connecticut appeared to have dodged a bullet, for the time being at least, including the West Haven store at 70 Elm Street.

Rite Aid has signaled no disruptions, closures or otherwise, for their 26 remaining Connecticut pharmacies located in Ansonia, Bridgeport, Brookfield, Cheshire, Danbury, East Haven, Fairfield, Milford, Monroe, Naugatuck, New Haven, North Branford, Northford, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Stamford, Stratford, Wallingford, Waterbury, West Haven and Wolcott.

Just about 7 percent of Rite Aid's 2,100-plus are being shuttered nationwide. People who work at the stores will also be transferred to other Rite Aid locations where possible, the company said. Another 210 sites went dark between January and the end of September.

Closures are concentrated in the Northeast and California, but can be found throughout the U.S. No exact closing dates have been made available.

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The company said it was making "very effort to ensure customers of impacted stores have access to health services, whether at another Rite Aid or a nearby pharmacy." Prescriptions for customers of the affected stores will be transferred to a nearby Rite Aid or other drug store “so that there is no disruption of service,” the company said in a statement.

On Sunday, Rite Aid said it had received a commitment for $3.45 billion in new financing from certain of its lenders. "This financing is expected to provide sufficient liquidity to support the Company throughout this process," according to the chain's statement. The company also plans to sell off Elixir Solutions, its prescription benefit provider subsidiary.

Rite Aid’s bankruptcy comes amid slumping sales and heavy debt from an opioid lawsuit filed by the Justice Department in March that accuses the company of filling prescriptions for large quantities of opioids “that had obvious, and often multiple, red flags indicating misuse.”

Other drug store chains, including rivals CVS and Walgreens, have settled similar lawsuits, but were better positioned financially. But even they are struggling and closing in a tough environment for national drug store chains as Amazon and big-box retailers like Walmart, Target, Costco and others make it more convenient to have prescriptions filled, CNN reported.

Losses that quarter are expected to be significantly higher than in the previous quarter, the company said. That’s on top of losses of about three quarters of a billion dollars for the year ended March 2023, and losses of $307 million from March to May, CNN reported.

with Patch editors Rich Kirby and RJ Scofield

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WEST HAVEN — Officials with Vertical Church had a dream they've been pursuing for 15 years. On Saturday, that dream will be realized.

Paul Bronson, outreach pastor for Vertical Church, said the nondenominational Christian church has brainstormed for years a way to rebrand the perception that it's "the rich church on the hill" by being good neighbors to those in need. Last summer, the church signed a five-year lease with the Annawon Lodge at 263 Center St. to launch its Dream Center, which houses a food pantry and clothing bank.

Bronson said the center had a soft opening this summer and draws an estimated 100 customers on each of the first four Saturdays of the month — which he said is reflective of 200 to 300 people when including customers' families. This Saturday, the center will have its grand opening.

"We want to restore hopes and dreams," Bronson said.

The ultimate goal of the center, Bronson said, is to treat residents most in need with respect and dignity while giving them the resources they need to become more self-sufficient. In that spirit, the center includes a conference room and a room with several desks for sessions and seminars that provide people with employment assistance and financial coaching and connect them to emergency assistance for things like shelter or addiction.

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"This isn't just about handouts; it's trying to meet basic needs so people can take the next step to becoming independent," he said.

Ron Sells, the Dream Center's director, said the center strives toward its mission statement of providing more hope in the community, directly downtown.

"Without hope, there are no dreams," he said.

From the start, Vertical Church officials said their vision for the Dream Center was to create a marketplace feel wherein those who show up for clothes or sustenance are treated as customers. The center uses a server, and those who show up are provided with digital barcodes that can be scanned on either the first and third or second and fourth Saturday of a month, granting them access to food and clothing. Bronson said the food pantry and clothing closet are open at different times to manage the flow of traffic, but customers are welcome to all the food — donated through a mosaic of Vertical Church members, food banks like Connecticut Food Share and Midwest Food Bank New England and private donors like Pepperidge Farm.

The center also allows customers to take up to 10 items from the clothing closet, which includes donated gently-used and clean clothing. Bronson said that sometimes those who take clothing items from the closet donate items of their own in return.

Much of what the Dream Center offers is donated by the community or local manufacturers, Bronson said. In addition, the center is expecting a reimbursement for $125,000 in operating costs through West Haven's share of American Rescue Plan Act funds, although that approval is pending before the Municipal Accountability Review Board.

Doug Bonjour joined Hockey Night in Boston in November 2022. He has covered high school and college sports in Connecticut for more than a decade, including stints as the UConn women’s basketball and UConn football beat reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media. During his time reporting on the 11-time national champion Huskies, he covered three NCAA Final Fours. He previously was a general assignment reporter for GameTimeCT and the Connecticut Post, and covered high school sports statewide, including boys hockey. Prior to that he was the managing/sports editor for the Westport News and Norwalk Citizen community weekly newspapers. He also has written for the Associated Press and New York Times. He graduated from Hofstra University in 2008 with a degree in print journalism.

Boys Prep Top 15

Top-ranked Avon Old Farms (16-0-1) continues to roll as the schedule gets into the first month of February. In four of their last five wins, the Winged Beavers have won by a margin of four goals or more. They will face Westminster on Wednesday.

#2 Kimball Union (20-3-0) is the first prep team to reach 20 overall wins. Other than a loss to Stanstead Prep of Quebec, the Wildcats have taken care of buisness.

#3 Holderness (17-1-0) suffered its first loss to New Hampton, but then rattled off five straight wins, outscoring the opposition by an impressive 36-6 margin.

KUA and Holderness will meet twice in early February, at Holderness on February 2, and at Kimball Union on February 10 in what should be two great games.

Cushing (17-2-0) is up to #4 in this latest HNIB News Boys Prep Top 15. The Penguins have been red-hot as of late, shutting out their last four opponents by a 27-0 margin. They are at Tilton on Wednesday.

Since a loss to Cushing back on January 10, #5 Salisbury (12-4-1) is 5-0-1 in its last six tilts, including an impressive 5-1 win over Kent. The Knights face Trinity Pawling on Wednesday.

#6 Brunswick (18-4-2) drops a bit this week. The Bruins won just one of four games at the McPherson Tournament in Canada over the weekend against top-flight competition. Lawrenceville is up next on Wednesday.

After these six spots, things are wide-open. Several clubs suffered a couple of losses of the past few weeks. It will be interesting to see which squads are able to take charge.

Phillips Andover (12-4-1) did move up three spots from the previous HNIB News Boys Prep rankings. Most recently, the Big Blue rolled past Loomis Chaffee, 6-2.

The woman, who works as a nurse, was placed into a medically induced coma after being injured on her way home from work, family members said

|Updated Tue, Jan 16, 2024 at 7:24 pm ET

WEST HAVEN, CT — The community is rallying around a West Haven woman who was seriously injured in a “horrific” crash on her way home from work last week, according to family members.

Kori Wilkerson, 29, who works as a nurse for the Department of Corrections in Cheshire, was on her way home around 11:50 p.m. on Jan. 8 when there was a three-car crash on I-91 South between Exits 9 and 8, according to a GoFundMe page.

The GoFundMe cites initial reports that said Wilkerson was trying to aid others who were involved in the crash when a third vehicle struck that resulted in her “devastating injuries.”

“Kori is currently being cared for in the ICU at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven,” according to a post on the GoFundMe page, which was created by her brother Jason Wilkerson. “She has sustained numerous fractures within her facial structure and her jaw as well as internal and external injuries which include 3 Hemorrhages around her brain, multiple lacerations, road rashes and diffuse axonal injury (DAI) from the accident. She has been placed into a medically induced coma and provided a neck brace to help with her initial healing process.

“Kori is currently undergoing neurological exams but has shown signs of improvement. In the coming days, she will have to undergo facial reconstruction surgery to help fix the fractures on her face and jaw.”

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The GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help cover Wilkerson’s medical bills during her time at Yale, future medications, rehab, and other incurred cost, according to the post.

Wilkerson is described in the post as a “young woman that loves nothing more than getting to hangout with her friends and family, spending time with her beautiful dog Mya, attending music festivals, and embracing her nursing career.”

“Kori’s road to recovery has just begun,” the post states.

More than $65,000 has been raised within the first four days of the GoFundMe campaign (as of Tuesday afternoon).

For more information, or to make a donation, visit the GoFundMe page here.

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More from West Haven

There’s been a big step forward to bring a brewery to the waterfront in West Haven.

On Tuesday, the West Haven City Council approved a lease so New England Brewing Co. can open at the site of the former Savin Rock Conference Center.

The long-running effort has previously faced controversy and legal action.

“I’m thrilled. I am absolutely thrilled. This is a great, great project for our shore. This will bring people not only from this city but all the cities around us,” said Mayor Nancy Rossi, D – West Haven.

Many community members spoke out in favor. They think it will be a positive addition to the waterfront and can help area businesses, too.

“I think it’s going to be a boom for the neighborhood, for all of West Haven," one resident said.

Some had raised concerns including whether the lease was a good deal for the city. Others raised issues about how the city got to this point.

“This is not a smooth process and it should not be that difficult for a business to come in here and do business,” a community member said.

It had been a rocky road to get here, including working out the deal and legal action against the developer from a nearby restaurant.

The mayor says while the process was frustrating at times, they pushed forward to find a solution.

“We all got together and we need to scale it back or it’s not going to happen. So that’s what you’re seeing now. It’s more a scaled-back version,” Rossi said.

A modified plan had called for eliminating production, making it more of a tasting facility. The project also recently received a grant of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state.

The brewery is hopeful to open in the next year.

“This is one step on a long road. It’s not the only hurdle. But it’s a step in the right direction,” said Marty Juliano, New England Brewing Co.

The mayor is hopeful there will be no more lawsuits, and the brewery can focus on the planning, approvals and work needed to open.