Phoenix-based Hacienda HealthCare, which operates the facility where an incapacitated patient was raped and became pregnant, has a history of special protections from Arizona, according to AZCentral.com.
The nonprofit company operates the only private facility of its kind in the state because an Arizona law allowed it to have a monopoly in the privately owned, intermediate-care market.
"They had all the negotiating power. The state had to pay whatever they were asking, even if it was the highest rate in the country," said Christina Corieri, senior policy adviser to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.
Mr. Ducey's staff found problems with Hacienda HealthCare in the weeks before Mr. Ducey took office in 2015, Ms. Corieri said. During Arizona's 2015 legislative session, they initiated a successful change in the law to remove the company's monopoly.
However, a separate Arizona law has allowed the company's intermediate-care facility, where the woman gave birth, to operate without a state license since 1997.
Arizona Sen. Heather Carter said she aims to introduce a bill that would change the 1997 law and require intermediate-care facilities to be licensed by the state. The bill will likely get support from Mr. Ducey if passed.
The governor's office is looking at giving Arizona a larger oversight role so intermediate-care facilities are treated the same way as other Arizona healthcare facilities, a spokesperson for Mr. Ducey said.
Hacienda HealthCare has been under scrutiny after reports surfaced in January that a 29-year-old, nonverbal patient was raped and gave birth Dec. 29. A 911 call during the birth indicated facility staff did not know the woman was pregnant.
A nurse at the facility was arrested Jan. 22 and charged in the rape of the patient. The nurse's DNA sample matched that of the infant, police said.