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Lawmakers, governor seek major changes for assisted living in Ariz. following Republic investigation

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Lawmakers, governor seek major changes for assisted living in Ariz. following Republic investigation


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Two Republican lawmakers want to prevent Arizona senior living facilities from keeping resident and employee injuries secret.

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A bill introduced at the state Capitol is one of several measures expected in the coming weeks that could make facilities safer. Arizona has some of the weakest protections for assisted living residents in the country, but if the proposed changes are enacted the state could emerge as a leader in stringent oversight.

The movement for reform responds to problems exposed by The Arizona Republic’s investigative series “The Bitter End,” which chronicled residents hurting each other and employees, poor care and sexual assaults in senior living.

Gov. Katie Hobbs also plans to push a package of bills to address the problems and her recent budget proposal includes funding for 15 more inspectors of licensed facilities — like nursing homes and assisted living centers — who can levy fines and citations.

Hobbs’ plan also would create three new long-term care ombudsman positions at the Department of Economic Security, “to make sure that families who need a place to report incidents to and have support have a place to go,” the governor told reporters Wednesday.

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She said The Republic’s reporting was a “driving factor” for her proposals.

Catch up: Arizona senior living facilities are often understaffed, endangering workers and residents

The legislation introduced this week by Reps. Quang Nguyen and Selina Bliss, both Prescott Republicans, is separate from Hobbs’ proposal. 

The Republicans’ legislation would:

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  • Require assisted living facilities to report to the Arizona Department of Health Services when residents hurt each other or hurt employees.
  • Require facilities to report serious injuries to families and notify them of any follow-up action they took to prevent future incidents.
  • Allow facilities to install cameras in common areas, like hallways.
  • Require facilities to allow residents and their families to install cameras in their rooms.
  • Require the director of the Arizona Department of Health Services to create rules around the use of cameras in assisted living facilities and nursing homes
  • Forbid facilities from keeping or hiring employees found by Adult Protect Services to have abused, neglected or exploited a vulnerable adult.

People harmed by the broken senior living system are hopeful for change.

“By the time I end up in one of those, it’ll be better,” said Susan Severe, a caregiver who had her eye nearly ripped from its socket by a resident at a Cottonwood facility in 2021.

Requirements for reporting let incidents fly under radar

Assisted living facilities do not have to tell the state health department about most nonfatal resident injuries even though the department is charged with licensing and investigating them. 

Facilities only have to report to police or Adult Protective Services about resident altercations that end in injury. Law enforcement officers generally do not investigate systemic abuse and neglect, and protective services keeps most of its work secret and rarely substantiates complaints.

When residents hurt each other, facility employees only have to conduct an internal investigation and keep it on file for a year. They don’t have to share it with anyone, unless they’re subpoenaed or the state health department asks for it. 

These conditions allowed what happened to Jennie Fischer to fly under the state’s radar and even leave her own family in the dark.

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The 101-year-old woman was living in the memory care wing of Brookdale North Mesa in January 2020 when management paired her with a roommate.

Jennie’s family immediately started having problems. The roommate stole Jennie’s wheelchair. She pushed her. She slapped at Jennie’s daughter when she’d try to intervene. 

More: Tragedies at 2 Arizona dementia care units leave families shattered, outraged

Sometimes people with dementia lash out thinking they are protecting themselves. Especially when they have the disease for a long time, which her roommate had.

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Jennie’s daughters felt their mom was unsafe and asked management to move her roommate. That request was declined and the facility manager said the new roommate was harmless, but soon after Jennie was found on the floor with a broken arm. She said her new roommate had pushed her. She died a month later, with the broken arm listed as a contributing factor.

Unbeknownst to Jennie’s family but not the manager, the new roommate had killed her previous roommate at another facility three weeks prior after a medication error.

Still, the health department wasn’t informed about Jennie’s death and never investigated it.

The Republicans’ bill would prevent such secrecy in the future. Joey Wilson, one of Jennie’s daughters, said her mother would be proud to be part of the change. 

“If they had to report injuries maybe they would have been more responsible for doing something, listening to the family … something,” Wilson said.  “Brookdale just didn’t have any accountability, at all.”

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Brookdale has told The Republic that their residents’ “health, safety and well-being is our top priority” but has declined to comment on Jennie’s case.  

Cameras could provide evidence when residents can’t

In addition to reporting requirements, the Republicans’ bill would make it easier for families and facilities to monitor residents.

A Republic review of dozens of police reports found that law enforcement seldom substantiates sexual assault claims from seniors living in memory care units. The cases are rarely witnessed and easily dismissed as misunderstandings or hallucinations. 

But The Republic found some facilities and state agencies ignored warning signs that could have prevented sexual assaults.

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Having cameras in residents’ rooms could help validate residents who are dismissed. Cameras also could prevent employees from taking advantage of them, said Dana Kennedy, AARP Arizona director, who worked with lawmakers on the legislation. 

The provision in Nguyen and Bliss’s bill allowing families to install cameras came from Kennedy’s frustration after reading The Republic’s investigation on sexual abuse, she said.  

The piece featured a facility that hindered a police investigation after one resident inappropriately touched another; a caregiver who was reported to police three times for sexual and physical abuse before he finally was caught and charged with rape; and a nurse who was groped by a resident convicted of sexually assaulting another caregiver just months before.

“I was so furious after that,” Kennedy said. “It was like well, how do you — how do you stop this?” 

Who’s to blame?: Arizona senior care centers face little accountability when residents, staff are sexually assaulted

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The bill also would require the health department to adopt rules around the use of cameras in senior care facilities, and allow — but not require — those facilities to place cameras in common areas like hallways.

A former police detective whose wife was sexually assaulted by another resident at Scottsdale’s Lone Mountain Memory Care in 2022 said he would have liked the option to install a camera in his wife’s room and watch over her even when he wasn’t at the facility for one of his daily visits.

The Republic does not generally share the names of sexual assault victims, and is not sharing the man’s name to protect the identity of his wife.

The bill doesn’t go far enough, he said.

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He’d like to see requirements for senior care centers to have surveillance in common areas — and consequences for facilities that fail to comply. 

Without those requirements, “They won’t do it. I guarantee you they will not do it,” he said. “They need to put more teeth in it.”

Responding to that critique, Bliss said the legislation was a start.

“It gets our foot in the door and then if we want to strengthen this, we have something to build on it for next session,” she said. “If we go for too much, we could risk losing the bill altogether. So, in our book, a little is better than nothing.”

Legislation would bar abusive employees from facilities 

Another key piece of the proposal would prevent facilities from hiring or keeping abusive employees.

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Adult Protective Services’ website states that its registry — a list of people the program found to have abused, neglected or exploited a vulnerable adult — exists to protect vulnerable adults from being hurt by someone who has done it before. 

But senior care centers are currently free to hire people on that list. And Adult Protective Services rarely adds people to it.

The Republic found that over the course of two years, protective services opened investigations into more than 1,600 allegations of sexual abuse and assault. During the same time period, the program substantiated less than 1% of that number.

Those low substantiation rates are part of what allowed Manuel Corral, formerly a caregiver at Heritage Village assisted living center in Mesa, to work at facility after facility over several years even as he was repeatedly accused of abusing residents. He was finally arrested for rape after he attacked a resident in 2020.

While Corral was arrested on rape charges, he ultimately pled guilty to three counts of attempted sexual assault. His name was added to the Adult Protective Services registry nearly a year after his arrest, and he was sentenced to seven years in prison.

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But Corral was reported to police three times for physically or sexually abusing residents at facilities where he worked before Heritage Village.

History: Arizona senior living center where resident killed roommate has had nearly 150 citations since

He was fired from at least one and suspended from another. He was reported to Adult Protective Services at least twice, but his name never showed up on the registry — and even if it had, senior care centers could have hired him.

While the proposed change in law would prevent people like Corral from working at facilities, it does not address ways to expedite getting people’s names on the list.

Advocates hopeful for significant year of reform

AARP Arizona has pushed to improve the senior living system for years with little traction. But this year is different — Kennedy said she’s never experienced more momentum. Everyone wants to improve the system, she said.

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How the system enables violence: At an Arizona senior living center, a resident killed another

Even without a legislative mandate, the state health department is investigating and citing facilities more often in light of “media oversight,” the director of the board that licenses facility managers said during a recent legislative committee hearing. He said his team has, as a result, investigated more managers.

The Republic’s investigative reporting in 2021 also influenced changes on that board, including a law that forbids the board from licensing people to run nursing homes if they have felonies for fraud.

“We knew that there was abuse and neglect in these facilities for a long time and I always said after Hacienda, the evidence was a baby,” Kennedy said, referencing a 2018 case when an employee raped and impregnated a patient who was quadriplegic and couldn’t communicate. “The evidence here is the reporting.”

Arizona Republic reporter Stacey Barchenger contributed to this report.

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Reach Caitlin McGlade at caitlin.mcglade@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @caitmcglade. Reach Sahana Jayaraman at Sahana.Jayaraman@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @SahanaJayaraman.



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Love scores 24 points as Arizona rolls to a 94-41 win over Central Michigan

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Love scores 24 points as Arizona rolls to a 94-41 win over Central Michigan


Associated Press

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Caleb Love matched his season-high with 24 points to help power Arizona to a 94-41 rout of Central Michigan on Saturday.

The Wildcats (6-5) won back-to-back games for the first time since beating Canisius and Old Dominion to open the season.

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The Chippewas (5-6) scored the game’s first three points but Love knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 18 first-half points to put Arizona firmly in charge at intermission, 44-23.

Arizona shot 54.5% from the field, including 10 of 29 from distance, and got 44 points from its bench. K.J. Lewis hit 4 of 8 from the field and 5 of 5 from the line for 13 points to lead the reserves. Tobe Awaka added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Wildcats dominated the boards, outrebounding the Chippewas 45-27.

Central Michigan struggled from the field, hitting just 14 of 54 (25.9%), including just 3 of 16 from distance. Cayden Vasko hit 4 of 13, including 2 of 5 from 3-point range, to lead the team with 10 points.

Arizona opens Big 12 Conference play at home when it plays host to TCU on Dec. 30. Central Michigan will look to snap its three-game losing string on Dec. 30 when it plays host to Cleary.

___

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Ex-Texas State running back Ismail Mahdi commits to Arizona

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Ex-Texas State running back Ismail Mahdi commits to Arizona


After getting hired as Arizona’s offensive coordinator, Seth Doege said his scheme is one that can be effective through the air and on the ground. And now he’s added a playmaker who has shown the ability to produce in both areas in a similar system.

Former Texas State running back Ismail Mahdi has committed to Arizona, giving the Wildcats a versatile ball carrier who can also catch passes out of the backfield.

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Mahdi ran for 2,322 yards and 14 touchdowns in two seasons with the Bobcats, adding 44 catches for 470 yards and three TDs as well as a score off a kick return. He has more than 3,500 all-purpose yards the last two seasons, with another 900 and five scores from the 2022 season at FCS Houston Christian.

Texas State runs a spread attack similar to what Doege used at Marshall, one that averaged 37.1 points and almost 475 yards per game this fall.

Ismail is Arizona’s 10th transfer pickup, fifth on offense and third at a skill position along with former New Mexico receiver Luke Wysong and ex-Washington State receiver Kris Hutson.

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New warning about valley fever as Arizona cases hit 13-year high

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New warning about valley fever as Arizona cases hit 13-year high


PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Do you know the signs and symptoms of valley fever?

Cases hit a decade-high, and doctors want to ensure you know what to look for, especially with friends and family coming into town for the holidays.

The Arizona Department of Health Services has seen more than 14,000 cases of valley fever so far this year.

Valley fever is caused by a fungal infection. It’s not contagious, but it is often misdiagnosed and can make you very sick.

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Its symptoms are the same as those of the flu or COVID-19, so many people brush it off as a virus – sometimes even doctors.

“That’s not an unusual situation where we have people visiting from out of state, and they go back to their home state, and then they develop an illness that ends up being diagnosed as valley fever,” said Dr. Wassim Ballan, an infectious disease specialist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Ballan is encouraging Arizonans to educate visiting loved ones about the illness.

“Usually, we don’t expect that there would be this awareness of valley fever outside the state of Arizona, so it’s something we want people to keep in mind,” Ballan said.

The fungus that causes valley fever is unique to southwestern soil.

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According to CDC data, valley fever cases increase during hot and dry periods. The Phoenix area has not had rain in months.

“The fungus releasing, if you want to call them spores, they hang out in the air and then they get breathed in through the lungs,” Ballan said.

Ballan says about 40% of those infected get symptoms, which can worsen over time.

“They seek medical care. They get diagnosed with pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia, so they start on antibiotics, and they don’t respond. So they get on a different course of antibiotics and so on,” said Ballan.

He says many have never even heard of valley fever, especially if they aren’t from Arizona or recently moved here.

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This is the case with one Valley resident, Michael, who was hiking on Friday.

“I’ve not been here that long, maybe 18 months, so I’ve still got a lot to learn, I guess,” he said.

Ballan says it’s important to stay vigilant this holiday season.

“Because valley fever can present in a similar way to other respiratory infections, that’s a good reminder to try to prevent those other infections by making sure you’re vaccinated,” he said.

You can get valley fever from hiking or being out in the desert, but also, because it’s in the air, anyone can be exposed.

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Valley fever is treated with antifungal medications.

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