With a Limited License, Sierra Tucson agrees on Paying Fine

Posted on November 3, 2011

Sierra Tucson, the treatment center located northwest of Tucson near Catalina Arizona has agreed to fulfill the agreement between the for-profit facility and the Arizona Department of Health Services. The center must pay $9,250 in fines for multiple violations.

News sources say that, despite the clinic’s good fame, a few of the violations are related to failing to appositely organize staff members for supervising patients. After a patient was recently found dead, the treatment center has to follow through with the improvements indicated by the Arizona Department of Health Services or face the risk of losing its state behavioral-health license.

According to the office chief for the state’s office, the provisional licensing Sierra Tucson now holds is the evidence of a grave matter. Reports show a severe lack of commitment to the type of care the facility is supposed to offer their patients.

In a year’s time, if Sierra Tucson does not comply with the requested ameliorations, including proper training of the present staff, the Facility’s Level Two license could be revoked indefinitely.  The fact that a patient literally wandered off shows the staff deliberately has no specific training regarding behavioral health.

According to reports, right after the state’s investigation and the disappearance of one of the facility’s patients, there were exactly 42 violations of strict state regulations and laws governing mental and behavioral-health clinics.

The chief executive officer of Sierra Tucson has stated that the encounter with the Arizona Department of Health Services was productive. He claims that the treatment center has already started to execute all the improvements demanded by the state. This is not the first time Sierra Tucson is forced to pay fines to the state because of accidents involving patients. Personal injury lawyers are familiar with the institution.

It was agreed that the Sierra Tucson Center had until Nov. 21 to submit a plan of correction to the state. The Los Angeles personal injury lawyers at Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP represents the family of a doctor who died during a stay at Sierra Tucson.

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