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Fallout from patient rape leads to Mesa hospital's closing

Posted at 9:59 PM, Jul 19, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-20 00:59:05-04

PHOENIX (AP) - The operator of a Phoenix long-term care facility where an incapacitated patient was raped and later gave birth is closing one of its other hospitals.

Hacienda HealthCare announced Friday that it is shutting down Hacienda Children's Hospital in Mesa.

The non-profit corporation says the 24-bed facility has four patients remaining. The hospital will stay open until those patients are discharged or a new owner can be found.

The hospital opened in 2015 and specialized in non-emergency, non-surgical care for medically fragile children not ready to go home.

Interim CEO Perry Petrilli cited rising costs from overhauling security and third-party monitoring at the Phoenix intermediate care facility where a patient was sexually assaulted.

Her pregnancy was discovered in December when she went into labor.

A former nurse was arrested.