Arizona Gov. Ducey Takes Aim At Hacienda Leadership In Tweets

By Kathy Ritchie
Published: Friday, January 25, 2019 - 12:56pm
Updated: Monday, January 28, 2019 - 8:50am

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Hacienda HealthCare facility
Sky Schaudt/KJZZ
Hacienda HealthCare facility in Phoenix.

Gov. Doug Ducey is tweeting about the 29-year-old woman who was raped and impregnated by her caregiver at Hacienda Healthcare. He is also taking aim at Hacienda’s leadership.

The governor took aim at Hacienda’s senior leadership and its Board of Directors after it was reported that former CEO Bill Timmons was accused sexually harassing several employees and treating staff poorly. Ducey tweeted his confidence level in Hacienda and its leadership is “zero.”

Referring to Timmons, Ducey said, “This guy should have been fired years ago. Period. Instead, he was protected and allowed to continue harming others.”

Tom Pomeroy, the chairman of Hacienda’s Board, said in an earlier statement that the board “enforced serious consequences for Timmons’ conduct, including counseling and more than 30 training sessions in a number of areas.”

Ducey wrapped up his six-part thread saying, “We are looking into what can be done to hold this facility and board accountable for violating the public’s trust and failing in their responsibility so badly.” 

Haceinda HealthCare responded with this statement:

"At the heart of Gov. Ducey’s tweets is a deep concern for the patients of Hacienda HealthCare. Every member of our staff and member of the board shares the governor’s concerns.

Bill Timmons, the former CEO of Hacienda, has left the organization and new leadership has been put in place. In response to recent events, Hacienda has aggressively revamped its security infrastructure, overhauled its care policies and changed its organizational culture. The two doctors who cared for the victim in this awful case no longer see Hacienda patients. Former County Attorney Rick Romley has been engaged in a comprehensive internal review to ensure no Hacienda patient is ever again victimized in any way. And we have done everything in our power to cooperate with the state and law enforcement.

In addition to these leadership and organizational changes, Hacienda has agreed to the State of Arizona’s request to have a third-party management team in place to oversee patient care and daily operations. The object, again, is to ensure that not a single Hacienda patient is in danger or receiving anything less that top-flight care. This contract should finalized in short order, with the third-party manager ready to have personnel on the ground Monday and begin full oversight on Wednesday, January 30, 2019.

These efforts will not stop. These are not cosmetic changes. Rather, this organization intends to do everything in our power to restore its credibility with our patients, their families, the public and Gov. Ducey. As he does, we, too, believe that no patient in Hacienda’s care can ever again be placed in harm’s way."

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