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Ex-head of Arizona nursing home that had deadly COVID outbreak surrenders license

Larry Michael Rasmussen, a former administrator of Granite Creek Health and Rehabilitation, surrendered his state license on Monday.

PRESCOTT, Ariz. — A former administrator for a Prescott nursing home that had a large COVID-19 outbreak early in the pandemic has surrendered his state license.

The Arizona Republic reports that Larry Michael Rasmussen didn’t appear for a scheduled formal hearing Monday before the Arizona Board of Nursing Care Institution Administrators and Assisted Living Facility Managers. But the board decided to accept his offer to surrender his license. 

Last summer, more than 50 residents of Granite Creek Health and Rehabilitation contracted COVID-19 and at least 15 died after management made sick employees work. 

The licensing board scheduled the hearing and subpoenaed Rasmussen after previously saying it didn’t have enough information to review his license and wanted to learn more about what happened at the home.

RELATED: ‘It just spread like wildfire’: Workers blow the whistle after COVID outbreak cripples Prescott nursing center

12 News previously reported that Granite Creek had been cited by the state health department for not following infection control requirements during the pandemic.

A state investigator wrote in the citation: “These failures had the potential to spread the communicable disease COVID-19 to other residents and staff in the facility.”

Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast.

RELATED: I-TEAM: Granite Creek & other nursing homes cited during pandemic receive large federal bonus payments

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