State health officials on Aug. 25 suspended admissions at Recovery Centers of America's location in Danvers, Mass., after reports of possible patient safety issues, according to a report from STAT.
Here are four things to know.
1. Two patients have died at the Danver's facility this year. The center reported one death the week of Aug. 14. A second death occurred in a patient who overdosed at the facility in February.
2. The health department's decision to halt admissions and investigate the facility follows the Aug. 25 publication of a comprehensive investigative report into possible safety issues at state RCA treatment centers conducted by STAT and The Boston Globe.
3. The report, citing interviews with multiple former employees and internal RCA documents, suggested RCA facilities in the state do not provide patients with basic levels of care. Employees said they complained regularly to the state and management that they could not keep patients safe due in part to overstaffing issues.
"Our patient to staff ratio is exhausting for us and non-therapeutic for the patients," wrote one employee in a January email to management at RCA's Westminster, Mass. facility obtained by STAT and The Globe. "The patients who should in no way even still be with us are taking advantage of our lack of staff by turning us into a drug hotel and brothel rather than a recovery center and the ones who are with us to make an attempt at meaningful recovery are feeling ignored, stressed and unprepared for after their stay."
4. RCA markets its facilities as "5-star, world-class addiction treatment centers." The company charges patients an average of $24,000 a month for treatment, according to the investigative report.
"RCA is 100 percent committed to our patients and their paths to recovery," said the company in a statement to the Globe. "At the very core of our facilities and mission is a steadfast dedication to the highest standards and regulations, and the care and safety of every individual we treat and employ."
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