The Arizona healthcare facility where an incapacitated patient became pregnant after she was allegedly raped by a staffer is under scrutiny again after another patient was found to have maggots crawling on a surgical wound.
Hacienda Healthcare gave a statement to the news station confirming the incident, saying that it was “swiftly self-reported to the relevant oversight agencies” and that the patient was taken to a hospital for treatment.
The statement also reportedly said that rooms had been swept for pests and that all patients had been evaluated. The facility is also reportedly using fans to keep flies and other insects from entering and laying eggs.
A former Hacienda Healthcare worker told the news station that she is not confident the measures are effective enough.
“If the standard of care is twice per day, and those maggots take 24 hours to hatch, it makes me question if the appropriate care is being given,” Eleanor Riggens told ABC 15. “ I think if you can ask yourself this question would you put your family member there? If the answer is no, then the answer has to be close it.”
AZFAmily.com reports that the Arizona Department of Health Services is seeking to revoke Hacienda Healthcare’s license; reportedly issuing a “notice of intent” to strip the facility of its license on Friday. The department also issued a statement obtained by the news station, which reads in part:
“This evening, the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) issued a Notice of Intent to Revoke the license of the Hacienda De Los Angeles’ Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (Hacienda ICF-IID). Based on findings from a recent survey and an extremely disturbing incident involving inadequate patient care that was reported to and investigated by ADHS this week, the Department has determined strong and immediate action is necessary to further protect the Hacienda ICF-IID residents.”
In December, a female patient with severe disabilities gave birth at the facility — reportedly to the shock of healthcare attendants who had no idea she was pregnant. In January, Nathaniel Sutherland, a former nurse at the facility, was arrested in connection the the apparent rape and later charged with sexual assault and vulnerable adult abuse.