Arizona healthcare center where woman, 29, in vegetative state gave birth is ordered to hand over control to an outside party by regulators as family say facility has still not apologized
- Hacienda HealthCare has been told to relinquish control to an outside party
- The victim’s family said the center had not said sorry after the birth in December
- They hope an outside review of the facility where she lived will lead to change
- Center spokesman said ‘not even sure the words ‘I’m sorry’ begin to cover it’
- CEO Bill Timmons has already resigned in the wake of the scandal
- Phoenix police obtained search warrant to retrieve DNA from male employees
The healthcare center where a woman in a vegetative state gave birth has been ordered to hand over control to an independent management team by regulators.
Hacienda HealthCare officials have been told to relinquish control to an outside party after the comatose patient shocked staff there by having a baby in December.
In a statement, Hacienda’s board of directors says it is taking the matter under advisement after its CEO Bill Timmons already resigned in the wake of the scandal.
It comes as the family of the 29-year-old victim say the center in Phoenix, Arizona, still has not apologized after the 112 pound woman, described as ‘incapacitated’ and ‘unable to make any decisions or give consent due to her disability’ gave birth.
Hacienda HealthCare, pictured, has been ordered to relinquish control to an outside party after a woman in a vegetative state was raped and gave birth there
Attorney John Micheaels, representing the Native American woman and her family, said they have not said sorry either publicly or privately.
In a statement they said hope an outside review of the facility where she lived will lead to changes ‘necessary to prevent further abuse and neglect of its patients’.
They emphasised their disappointment that they ‘chose not to express any remorse or apology’.
Her parents called the assault an ‘inexcusable failure to protect and safeguard their vulnerable daughter’, who has been in a vegetative state since the age three.
Spokesman for Hacienda HealthCare David Leibowitz told AZ Central: ‘If we haven’t addressed in a public way the family of the victim, that was out of respect for the sensitive situation they find themselves in.
‘There isn’t an employee at Hacienda who isn’t absolutely devastated by this. I’m not even sure the words ‘I’m sorry’ begin to cover it.’
Police are investigating the incident and the provider’s CEO has already resigned.
The chief executive officer of Hacienda HealthCare Bill Timmons, left, has already resigned in the wake of the scandal. San Carlos Apache Tribal Chairman Terry Rambler, right, said he hopes ‘justice will be served’
Phoenix police, pictured at the Hacienda HealthCare center, obtained a search warrant to retrieve DNA from male employees
San Carlos Apache officials confirmed the victim was an enrolled member of the tribe
San Carlos Apache officials confirmed the woman was an enrolled member of the tribe, whose reservation is in southeastern Arizona about 134 miles east of Phoenix.
Tribal chairman Terry Rambler said: ‘When you have a loved one committed to palliative care, when they are most vulnerable and dependent upon others, you trust their caretakers. Sadly, one of her caretakers was not to be trusted and took advantage of her. It is my hope that justice will be served.’
Investigators are collecting DNA from Hacienda’s male employees and others who may have had contact with the woman in an effort to identify a suspect.
Hacienda, meanwhile, has hired a former Phoenix county attorney to lead a separate probe of patient-security.
The facility serves infants, children and young adults who are ‘medically fragile’ or have developmental disabilities, according to its website.