Fines & Sanctions

Doc Surrenders License To Operate Westport Surgical Center

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A Westport plastic surgery center that state health officials placed on a two-year probation last summer has closed, ending a string of disciplinary actions taken against the facility. Dr. Joel Singer, the sole owner and operator of the Center for Ambulatory Surgery (CAS), has voluntarily surrendered the facility’s license to operate its outpatient center at 32 Imperial Ave. in Westport, according to an affidavit filed with the state Department of Public Health. The decision to surrender the license cannot be reversed and “constitutes disciplinary action,” the affidavit says. Singer has agreed that he will not seek to reinstate the center’s license at any time in the future, according to the filing.

Fines & Sanctions

Westport Surgical Center Placed On Two-Year Probation, Fined

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A Westport surgery center where rusty equipment and a broken fire alarm system were found by inspectors earlier this year has been placed on probation for two years and fined $7,500 by the state Department of Public Health. The Center for Ambulatory Surgery at 32 Imperial Ave. is run by Dr. Joel Singer, whose own medical license was placed on probation in 2011, when he was also fined $29,000 for sloppy record-keeping and other violations at the center. The latest action by DPH is included in an Aug. 15 consent order was released this week.

Fines & Sanctions

State Suspends Westport Surgical Center’s License

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A Westport plastic surgeon who is on probation and was fined $29,000 in 2011 has had his center’s license temporarily suspended after state inspectors found several new violations, including rusty equipment and instruments and a fire alarm system that had not worked for five months. Under a June 20 consent order with the state Department of Public Health, Dr. Joel B. Singer agreed to the suspension of the license of his Center for Ambulatory Surgery in Westport through July 29. The order states that the violations “may pose a health risk to the public.”

During surprise inspections between March 21 to 28, inspectors found a rusty autoclave used to sterilize instruments, rusty instruments, an unlocked refrigerator containing medications and worn-out brushes being used to clean instruments, records show. Donna M. Ortelle of DPH’s Facility Licensing and Investigations Section, outlined the violations in a June 4 letter to Singer. Diana Lejardi, a DPH spokeswoman, said that the center will be able to provide more information if it wants to dispute the findings.

Fines & Sanctions

Westport Plastic Surgeon Again Cited By DPH

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A Westport plastic surgeon who is on probation and was fined $29,000 last year faces further sanctions following unannounced inspections of his center that found additional violations for lax management of nursing care, sanitation and infection control.

Center for Ambulatory Surgery

Westport Plastic Surgeon Faces Discipline

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A prominent Westport plastic surgeon is facing a possible reprimand and two years probation from the state for operating a clinic that inspectors found had sloppy record-keeping, rusty and dirty equipment and nurses who failed to document patients’ allergies before liposuction and facelifts.