BOUNTIFUL -- The companies that own and operate a Bountiful residential care facility have paid $365,555 to the state to settle the case of a disabled man who died after being neglected.
Attorney General Mark Shurtleff announced Tuesday that REM Utah and National Mentor Services, LLC, agreed to the civil settlement after two former employees were convicted on criminal neglect charges.
"This was a very tragic case for which there is no adequate remedy at law to compensate for what happened to this severely disabled man," Shurtleff said. "The prosecution of those responsible and this civil settlement will send a message that failing to provide care to our most vulnerable citizens will not be tolerated."
The settlement covers Medicaid restitution, investigation and other costs to settle claims with the state.
Eric Hale, 46, a disabled resident at the supervised residential facility, was taken to the Lakeview Hospital emergency room after he passed out in April 2007. The medical staff at the hospital was shocked at his emaciated appearance, according to a news release. Hale was 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighed 110 pounds and had multiple pressure sores, caused when a person is unable to move enough to allow circulation to the skin.
Hale died a month after surgery due to a medical problem. A doctor determined his malnutrition prevented him from recovering from the surgery. The Utah Medicaid Fraud Unit investigated the death and learned Hale weighed more than 200 pounds and was mobile and fairly active a year prior to his death. Criminal charges were filed against three company employees who provided care and supervision to the victim with Medicaid funds under a contract with the Utah Division of Services for Peoples with Disabilities.
On Oct. 20, 2nd District Court Judge Rodney S. Page sentenced Jessica Poole, 25, Hale's direct caregiver, to serve 45 days in Davis County Jail and placed her on two years' probation. She pleaded guilty to a class A misdemeanor aggravated neglect of a vulnerable adult.
At her sentencing hearing, Page said Poole had cared for Hale more than a year on a daily basis and should have been aware his health was failing.
"He entered the group home weighing 206 pounds, and in one year's time, he weighed 110 pounds," Page said.
Page said Poole's lack of a high school diploma did not prevent her from having "common sense," and that Poole's supervisor, Melissa Strickland, had some responsibility.
Strickland, 37, pleaded no contest to the same charge on Aug. 25 and was placed on two years' probation and sentenced to serve 50 hours of community service.
Page dismissed charges against REM Utah Director John Harbert, 58, after a preliminary hearing on Sept. 1, stating there was not enough evidence to show Harbert was personally aware of the neglect in the Bountiful home.
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