Hacienda HealthCare to remain open after Arizona authorities step in: 5 notes

Alia Paavola -

Just one day after Phoenix-based Hacienda HealthCare announced plans to close its intermediate-care unit where a patient in a vegetative state gave birth, Arizona officials stepped in to keep the facility open, according to AZ Central.

Five things to know:

1. The board of Hacienda Healthcare voted to close the unit Feb. 1, after reports surfaced that a 29-year-old patient who had been in a vegetative state for 14 years gave birth to a healthy baby boy Dec. 29. Several reports claimed the patient had been raped several times.

2. State officials fought the decision to close the facility, arguing it would be risky to move some patients. Some families may be disadvantaged because there are not many long-term care units in the area, they said.

3. "Given the high medical risks associated with transferring these patients, moving this medically fragile community is the option of last resort and not the state's goal," reads a joint statement from the Arizona Department of Economic Security and the state's Medicaid program.

4. The two agencies gave the health system two choices: Bring in a third-party manager or allow the state health department to assume licensing authority. Hacienda HealthCare chose to allow the state health department to assume licensing authority, which gives the state more oversight of operations.

5. An agreement between the state and Hacienda HealthCare must still be reached.

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