Waterford — The state Office of Health Care Access has determined that Hartford HealthCare’s decision to close an orthopedic practice in the Crossroads Professional Building did not require the agency’s permission.

In a decision released Tuesday, OHCA said that based on information provided by Hartford HealthCare and Backus Physician Services — the physicians group managed by a subsidiary of Hartford HealthCare — the Dec. 31 closure of Backus Physician Services Orthopedic Surgery “does not constitute a termination of inpatient or outpatient services by a hospital over which the Office of Health Care Access has regulatory authority.”

Backus Physician Services is an independent legal entity, separate from The William W. Backus Hospital, which is affiliated with Hartford HealthCare, OHCA said. If it was a hospital-based practice, a certificate of need from OHCA would have been required.

Shawn Mawhiney, spokesman for Hartford HealthCare, said the decision validates the hospital network’s actions.

“We are pleased that the state Office of Health Care Access ruled that a certificate of need was not required in this matter, and we look forward to continuing to provide high-quality health care services in southeastern Connecticut — at our Crossroads location and beyond,” he said.

Backus and Hartford HealthCare recently received approval from OHCA to purchase a 51 percent ownership share in the Constitution Surgery Center East, a 21-physician ophthalmic and orthopedic surgery center at 174 Cross Road. Shortly after the approval, plans for a new, 19,000-square-foot building at a nearby location were announced. The current building is 7,000 square feet.

OHCA’s inquiry into Hartford HealthCare’s closure of the smaller orthopedic practice, where four orthopedic physicians provided care, was prompted by a complaint last month from a Griswold resident who was a patient of one of the doctors, Dr. Frank Maletz.

“I’m disappointed, but not surprised,” said Anne Grabowy, the Griswold woman who complained to OHCA and organized a protest outside Backus of the closure. “They hung their hat on a legal technicality.”

Grabowy said she and other former patients are exploring other actions and will continue to raise concerns about loss of patient access in the region to orthopedic doctors.

"It's a travesty to our area," she said. "There are people who've been dependent on these doctors for 35 years. I'm completely disgusted and discouraged at the tone of health care in our state."

Dr. Maletz said the decision was “not a surprise, but incorrect.” As its name implies, OHCA has a responsibility to preserve patient access to care, he said, and the closure of the practice is creating a “colossal” access problem for patients. Maletz described his current status as “underemployed.”

Another of the four orthopedists, Dr. Jeffrey Salkin, said that even though state regulators did not find the Hartford HealthCare violated regulations, the hospital network’s actions should not be condoned.

“Just because it was within their legal boundaries, doesn’t mean what they did was right,” he said. Asked about his current status, he said that because of the way he and the other doctors were treated, he is “in no rush to sign up with another big institution.

Dr. Salkin also was critical of how Hartford HealthCare's actions affected patients.

"The way Hartford HealthCare went about this was reprehensible," he said. "They still abandoned hundreds if not thousands of patients who belong to them who now can't be seen. They made no effort to find these people physicians." 

“I think the story serves as a warning to those physicians who are willing to become employees and forfeit their independence,” he said. “Our story shows this kind of thing can and does happen.”

j.benson@theday.com