The Arizona long-term healthcare facility where a severely disabled patient was raped, will shut down, it has been announced.
The crime came to light in December when the unidentified patient, a woman in her 20s, went into labor. Caretakers said they had no idea that the woman, who was disabled by seizures during her early childhood, was pregnant.
Officials with Hacienda HealthCare said its board of directors had determined it was not sustainable to keep operating its intermediate care facility in Phoenix.
It serves infants, children and young adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities who require a high level of medical care.
Hacienda officials said they were working with state agencies to develop a plan to move 37 patients to other centres. Its skilled nursing facility will stay open.
“We will continue to work with these agencies in the weeks and months ahead to ensure an appropriate and safe transition moving forward,” the provider said in a statement.
“The care of our patients remains our top priority and we will do everything in our power to ensure a smooth transition for them and their families.”
State regulators, meanwhile, called the decision “disturbing news” and not in the best interest of patients.
“We encourage Hacienda to work with the state to find a path forward,” the Arizona Department of Economic Security said.
“State agencies are exhausting all efforts to bring this to a conclusion that is beneficial to the patients, some of whom have been at this facility nearly their entire lives.”
The state had ordered Hacienda to hire a third-party management team to oversee daily operations after the revelation that an incapacitated woman who had lived at the facility since the age of three had given birth on December 29. But Hacienda and the outside party could not come to a long-term agreement.
A nurse at the facility, Nathan Sutherland, 36, was arrested in January after investigators said they had linked him to the case through DNA evidence.
Sutherland pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and vulnerable adult abuse earlier this week and remains in a Maricopa County jail in lieu of a $500,000 bail.
His attorney, Dave Gregan, has said prosecutors lack direct evidence of his client’s guilt and that the defense would conduct its own DNA tests.
The woman ultimately gave birth to a baby boy, who police say is doing well and is being cared for by her family members.