Eleven key leaders at Phoenix-based Hacienda HealthCare, including the company's newly appointed CEO, were fired or decided to resign late last week, according to a report from KTAR News 92.3 FM.
Nine members of the management team left, and two board members resigned. The announcement, made March 1, adds to the list of officials who have departed since news surfaced that a patient in a vegetative state gave birth at the long-term care facility, prompting allegations of sexual assault and other abuse.
The board of directors said that Patrick White, the CEO since January; Kayte Del Real, the COO of clinical services; and McKenzie Gillies, the director of patient services were terminated.
Board member Kevin Berger, MD, resigned, effective immediately.Tom Pomeroy, who served as Hacienda's board chairman for 38 years, resigned March 1, according to a news report from KGUN 9, an ABC affiliate in Tucson, Ariz.
A number of other employees, including Joe O'Malley, CFO; Kevin Payne, COO of operations; Tina Meredith, director of healthcare support services; Marianne Love-Day, director of corporate compliance; Valerie Brehm, the director of nursing and Nancy Salmon, vice president of corporate communications, all submitted their resignations. Their last day will be March 13.
The mass exodus comes after the former Hacienda CEO Bill Timmons resigned Jan. 7, after the 29-year-old patient gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
The Arizona Department of Health Services released the following statement: "After being informed about the departure of several members of the senior management team at Hacienda, ADHS immediately arrived onsite to ensure the health and safety of patients. After a thorough review, ADHS has concluded that there is no immediate concern that these departures have negatively impacted the care patients are receiving at Hacienda."