In the unfortunate position where you have to put a loved one into the care of a professional facility, you hope and pray that they are being cared for as promised.
However, there are times of awful discovery where you find that you cannot trust those in charge, that some people are capable of horrific things.
In one facility, a family’s worst nightmare came to fruition when it was found out that their daughter had been the victim of unspeakable acts.
People reports:
“As Arizona authorities investigate the sexual assault of a woman at a nursing facility who gave birth to a boy while in a vegetative state for more than a decade, the question of how her pregnancy went unnoticed remains unanswered.”
A pregnancy unnoticed? It seems impossible not to notice a woman in a bed, who you presumably are caring for everyday, getting bigger and bigger.
This poor woman. She was unable to speak for herself, unable to ward off an attacker, and unable to identify an offender.
The Hacienda Healthcare in Phoenix, Arizona was responsible for the young woman who was identified as an Apache Tribe Native American by the tribe’s Chairman, Terry Rambler, according to People.
Sgt. Tommy Thompson is heading up the investigation into who assaulted the 29-year-old patient. He says the staff was unaware of the pregnancy until she went into labor.
“I think it took everyone by surprise,” Thompson said, as reported by People. He added “Certainly that’s a question that people could ask is, ‘How can a woman carry a baby to, pretty much a full-term baby and not realize that she’s pregnant?’”
There needs to be some accountability by the company responsible for the health and well-being of a loved one. It is not only a professional matter, but an ethical one.
The woman had been in a vegetative state for over a decade after she almost drowned as a kid. Thompson said the incident left her “unable to move [and] unable to communicate”.
Bill Timmons, chief executive officer of Hacienda Healthcare, resigned after news broke out about the birth in his facility.
It is unclear if he resigned because of any poor judgement or foul play in the matter, or just because he was the one in charge when it happened.
At this time there are no other known victims within the facility, but then again the staff never noticed the first one, so their word can’t be trusted.
During the press conference on the issue with Thompson it was reported that “Right now, we’re investigating a sexual assault,” but he was not denying a possible coverup saying, “wherever this investigation takes us, we’re prepared to go forward with it.”
Police had not found out about the shocking news until they received a call that an infant was coding and in “distress”, according to People.
Thompson said, “The baby was born having issues, that was the nature of the call, that’s what started this on the 29th of December.”
Would there even have been a call out to authorities if the baby had not been having difficulty breathing in those first moments?
It seems it would have been wise for the staff to call 911 as soon as they discovered the young mom was in labor, being concerned about the whole situation.
Amazingly, the baby was delivered naturally. In a statement to People, John Micheaels, the family of the victim’s attorney, said
“The family would like me to convey that the baby boy has been born into a loving family and will be well cared for.”
Police are going to obtain DNA samples from all the staff at Hacienda Healthcare to see if any are a match for the baby boy’s father.
A search warrant has already been served to carry out the testing, and the healthcare facility has welcomed the investigation, calling it “unprecedented” and “disturbing”, according to People.
This is not the first time the facility has been under scrutiny for inappropriate matters. In 2017, they were cited for not protecting the rights of the residents’ privacy in the showers, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Administrators claim that all the issues for which they had been cited for were corrected through staff counseling, according to a follow up report in 2018.
Just talking to the staff about being knowingly inappropriate to the people they are supposed to be caring for doesn’t seem like a sufficient reprimand.
The lack of accountability of the staff may be what led up to this appalling offense.
The patient’s family is “outraged” and “traumatized”, as could be expected. They have not made any comments on the matter, because they don’t feel “emotionally ready” to do so, according to People.
This woman should have been protected. There should have been someone looking out for her well-being as the facility was hired to do so.
Being in a vegetative state means that you are awake, but unable to move or communicate. To think of the nightmare this woman had to go through while she was violated and unable to scream or defend herself is near unbearable.
It is the hope that the perpetrator is brought to justice, and that the efforts of the Phoenix Police bring the family some peace.
Please let us know in the comments section what you think about the staff not knowing that the woman was pregnant until giving birth.