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(AP Photo / Matt York)
PHOENIX – Two Arizona agencies intervened to prevent Hacienda HealthCare from shutting down the unit of its Phoenix facility where a disabled woman had given birth late after having been sexually assaulted.
Hacienda agreed to grant the Arizona Department of Health Services a license to intermediate care facility for the mentally handicapped.
Earlier in the day, Arizona's health care cost containment system (the state agency, Medicaid), and the Department of Economic Security of the 39; State had issued a 16-hour deadline for responding to a request for information regarding the proposed closure of the Hacienda Unit.
"Given the high medical risks associated with the transfer of these patients, moving this medically fragile community is the option of last resort and not the state's goal," the gate -AHCCCS spokesperson, Heidi Capriotti, said in an email about the agreement to keep the facilities in service.
"We are confident that with ADHS exercising its licensing authority , and the continued commitment of AHCCCS and DES to make every effort to ensure health For members, it is the best immediate outcome for all concerned parties. "
A closure would have forced the resettlement of nearly 40 patients with intellectual disabilities."
Patrick Ptak, a spokesman for Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, called the result. "Good news and best immediate result. "
" Our agencies will continue to work with Hacienda to implement a voluntary regulatory agreement with strict monitoring and accounting. "Ptak said in an e-mail [19659003UnderthisagreementHaciendawillhavetodevelopalong-termplanandschedulesettingprioritiesforhealthandsafetyinintermediatecarefacilitiesthevictimhasresided
Hacienda will also have to rely on a On-site evaluator to ensure the necessary changes have been made The caregiver will need to work with an external health care consultant j the state finds that it is in compliance. All of these conditions will also apply to the skilled nursing home, which shares the same campus.
"In light of recent events, we have complied with the guidelines of many public bodies and have made every effort to ensure the safety and well-being Hacienda said in a statement that the agreement had been ad.
"Among the changes currently in place as a result of the incident, we have installed dozens of cameras and monitors; enhanced security; hired police officers out of service to ensure the safety of the facilities; and trained all Hacienda staff on abuse and neglect protocols using a training module approved by AHCCCS. "
On Thursday, Hacienda said his board of directors had voted last week in favor of the closure of the unit, declaring to continue to operate" the unit and would begin to move the patients.
But the AHCCCS and the DES sent Hacienda a letter Friday to challenge the board's reasoning.
"Your recent correspondence and your statements to the media clearly show that with the prior agreement to appeal to a third party and without a clear plan to deal with the challenges Hacienda faced, such as costs, advice Administration decided to close the facility, citing the lack of financial viability of the facility, "letter said.
Hacienda had been tasked with hiring a third party manager or risking to terminate his supplier contract. An agreement with Benchmark Human Services, based in Indiana, appeared to be in place by the deadline set by the state, but it was never finalized.
A 29-year-old disabled woman with limited mobility who was unable to speak gave birth on December 29, when the institution was prompted by the police to open a sexual assault investigation.
Nathan Sutherland, a nurse at the Hacienda who was taking care of the patient during the alleged period of sexual assault, was arrested on January 23, after the investigators had declared
He has since pleaded no guilty of sexual assault charges and abuse of a vulnerable adult.
The Associated Press contributed to the writing of this report.
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