Maggots Found on Man at Facility Where Incapacitated Woman Gave Birth, State Moves to Take License
After maggots were found on a male patient, Arizona’s health department has issued a notice of intent to revoke the license of a Phoenix-area Hacienda HealthCare facility where an incapacitated patient gave birth to a baby in 2018 following a sexual assault.
The Arizona Republic reports that state health officials sent an email Friday announcing they will seek to revoke the facility’s license. NBC reports the agency’s decision is “based on findings from a recent survey and an extremely disturbing incident involving inadequate patient care” — the discovery of maggots near an incision on a male resident.
According to the Republic, the email reads, “The Notice of Intent to Revoke allows for the department to have increased accountability and oversight of the facility and does not mean Hacienda must immediately shut down.”
PEOPLE’s inquiries to Arizona’s Department of Health Services and Hacienda were not immediately returned.
A spokesperson for the facility told ABC15 that the patient was immediately taken to the hospital and that the incident was “swiftly self-reported to the relevant oversight agencies.”
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The facility made national headlines last year when a 29-year-old resident in a long-term vegetative state gave birth to a baby.
Nathan Sutherland, 37, a nurse at the facility, was arrested earlier this year, and has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse. His attorney has not responded to PEOPLE’s previous requests for comment.
RELATED: Nurse Arrested in Sexual Assault of Woman Who Gave Birth in Long-Term Vegetative State
In a lawsuit against the state of Arizona, the family of the victim — who has been identified as a Native American woman of the Apache tribe — said it was likely she had been impregnated previously.
RELATED: Suspect in Rape of Woman in Vegetative State Was Christian Rapper — and His Wife Sought Divorce
The suit states the victim “experienced severe physical and emotional trauma as a result of likely months, if not years, of repeated violent rape and assault.”
The victim, a resident of the facility since she was a toddler, “lacks sufficient understanding and mental capacity to make decisions or give consents for her medical, placement or financial estate” and suffers from quadriplegia, recurrent pneumonia and a seizure disorder, according to her medical records.
