Bill Timmons, the CEO of Hacienda Healthcare, has resigned effective immediately after a woman in a vegetative state for years gave birth last month at the Phoenix care facility.
The woman in a vegetative state, who has been in the care of Hacienda Healthcare for more than 10 years, gave birth on Dec. 29 when employees did not know she was pregnant, a source told 12 News.
The woman is non-verbal and cannot move on her own. According to the source, staff members did not know she was pregnant until she started moaning Saturday and when a nurse came in, the patient was crowning.
Now, Hacienda Healthcare is at the center of a sexual assault investigation by Phoenix police.
Gary Orman, executive vice president of the Hacienda Board of Directors, said after Timmons's resignation that Hacienda “will accept nothing less than a full accounting of this absolutely horrifying situation, an unprecedented case that has devastated everyone involved, from the victim and her family to Hacienda staff at every level of our organization.”
“I want to assure our patients, their loved ones, our community partners, the agencies we do business with, Governor Ducey and the residents of Arizona, we will continue to cooperate with Phoenix Police and the investigating agencies at all levels in every way possible,” Orman's statement continued. “And we will do everything in our power to ensure the safety of every single one of our patients and our employees.”