Hacienda ran unlicensed vaccine clinics
Hacienda HealthCare confirmed this week that it unknowingly operated seasonal vaccine clinics for infants without the required state licensing.
Two of Hacienda’s five Los Niños Synagis Clinics have since licensed as outpatient clinics, and the remaining three clinics are scheduled to be surveyed in July and would be licensed upon completion of a successful survey, Chris Minnick, an Arizona Department of Health Services spokesman, wrote in an email.
Synagis is a monthly injection given between November and April to infants at high risk for RSV or respiratory syncytial virus. Without state oversight, there has been no outside agency to handle complaints about the clinics.
“From the moment the need for a license was discovered and self-reported to the appropriate agencies, Hacienda has made getting necessary the licenses a top priority,” Hacienda HealthCare said in a written statement. “The current Hacienda CEO continues to work closely with the state to make sure these facilities have the necessary licenses.”
Hacienda HealthCare opened the first Los Niños Synagis 17 years ago, and the others opened at various dates after that, Hacienda officials said.
“At no time across this years-long time period did a state or federal agency inform the clinical director or medical director that these clinics required a license,” the Hacienda HealthCare statement says. “Had Hacienda been so informed, the organization immediately would have secured the license necessary.”
The state health department says it became aware of Hacienda HealthCare’s five unlicensed outpatient clinics in February.
The clinics in Phoenix and Gilbert are the two that have since been licensed and are in compliance with state law. The other three clinics are in Tucson, Prescott and Flagstaff.
“The health and safety of the public is the top priority of ADHS, and the department requires licensed facilities to maintain compliance related to patient care and proper handling of medications,” Minnick wrote.
Now that the clinics are licensed, state health officials will be able to investigate and take appropriate action if there are any complaints about care.
“Hacienda would never knowingly risk the health of a patient. During the 17 years that Hacienda’s Synagis clinics have provided this life-saving medication to infants, we have experienced zero negative patient outcomes,” the Hacienda statement says.
Hacienda HealthCare has been subject to increased public scrutiny since an incapacitated patient at its intermediate care facility in Phoenix gave birth on Dec. 29, 2018. A 911 recording indicates staff at the facility were unaware that the 29-year-old patient was pregnant. One of the woman’s male nurses was arrested on multiple charges of sexual assault and abuse of a vulnerable adult. The case made international news.
On June 14, the nonprofit company was once again in the spotlight when the state Department of Health Services issued a notice intent to revoke Hacienda HealthCare’s state license after a report that “several” maggots were found near the surgical incision on a 28-yearold male resident in the intermediatecare facility.