There are some scandals that go beyond shame. And as we explore this case, I need to say that the person responsible for this scandal is beyond ethical help and falls to within criminal activity. However, those responsible for this person and those ultimately in charge of the facility are in many ways the real culprits here. Beyond shame at Hacienda HealthCare!
Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Hacienda HealthCare is an organization with more than 40 healthcare programs and facilities. They serve upwards of 2,500 long-term patients, most of whom are infants, children, teens, and young adults. Not only are many of these patients incapacitated and weak, but some are in vegetative states.
One of the patients who has been in a vegetative state has just given birth. She is 29 years old. The staff had no idea she was pregnant. Much to their amazement, the patient was heard groaning one evening, and shortly after she delivered a healthy baby. The patient, obviously, was unaware of the delivery, but what is clear was that she was raped.
When this shocking incident was revealed, the facility’s chief executive, Bill Timmons, immediately resigned in shame.
Search Warrant
The Arizona Department of Health Services and the state’s Department of Economic Security are also working with police into this investigation. They have executed a warrant to seek DNA samples from male staff.
In response to the investigation Hacienda HealthCare has issued the following statement:
“As an organization, our top priority is to quickly identify the perpetrator and to make sure that person is brought to justice. Mr. Romley [the investigator] will have unfettered access to every facet of Hacienda’s business — including all the records related to this matter. We will do everything we can to aid this review and, once it is complete, to make sure this unprecedented situation never, ever happens again.”
The young woman’s family naturally feels betrayed. If there is the slightest silver lining, it is that the baby was delivered healthy and his placed with a loving family.
However, extremely serious questions remain. The individual who committed this crime may have abused the patient for quite some time and for all we know, other patients as well. He seized an opportunity out of a sick, sexual need. He may have even rationalized the behavior out of the thought that it wouldn’t make any difference. Of course, we don’t even know if he is still around. We also don’t know it was the only worker in the 40-nursing home operation to have exhibited such horrific behavior.
Nevertheless, for the Hacienda HealthCare system to distance itself from the situation by placing all of the blame for this ethical breakdown on the sick worker seems disingenuous. Yes, the worker committed the crime, however, an entire system was in place to enable him to commit that crime.
It is no secret that there is a serious shortage of qualified healthcare professionals in this country however, just attempting to fill a staff without better vetting that staff accomplishes very little. We have documented and read about numerous cases of nursing home abuse throughout the United States. Those facilities that have good staffs are blessed and lucky, but is that enough? Luck should have very little to do with ethics. Luck should not factor into a situation where a vulnerable nursing home patient is sexually, physically or verbally abused.
Stop The Opportunity – Beyond Shame at Hacienda HealthCare
If strict checks and balances are put into place, especially during time periods when patients are at their most vulnerable, it will be a start. If an unvetted or untrained worker is allowed free reign in the hours when there are no visitors, perhaps the facility not only needs to institute strict policies around highly vulnerable patients, it may have to create special, secure wards where the staff is monitored 24/7 to ensure there is nothing untoward that can possibly occur.
Would ethical training have kept this tragic event from happening? I can’t say. Those who needed the training the most would have been those who were in supervisory positions who could have instilled the importance of ethical behavior. Frankly, I am skeptical that trying to reach and reason with burned-out, stressed out and disengaged workers may not have had much of an impression.
The system is broken and anyone who has a relative in such a facility is all too aware of some of the problems. It is long past time to address the ethical breakdown.
