PHOENIX — St. Luke's Behavioral Health Center has been told by state officials to suspend operations and halt care, according to a statement given to 12News.
The suspension of services comes amidst complaints from former and current employees about the conditions of the facilities and other concerns.
Patients at St. Luke's Behavioral Health Center were relocated from their facilities after the air conditioning went out last week.
"We are alarmed at the state of Arizona’s arbitrary decision to force St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Center to suspend operations and halt patient care," St. Luke's parent company Steward Health said. "In the midst of statewide shortages for critical behavioral health services, it is unconscionable for the state to halt patient care without a plan in place to serve these individuals with the ongoing care that they require. They are effectively closing this hospital and causing disruption of critical services to a vulnerable population with few options for care."
According to court documents, the Arizona Department of Health Services conducted on-site complaint investigations on Aug. 6, with additional on-site visits conducted over several days.
After the AC failed at 8:05 a.m. on Aug. 9, the temperature in the lobby was measured by a Department Healthcare Compliance Officer to be 99 degrees at 10 a.m., court documents state.
St. Luke’s submitted a “corrective action plan” to the department, which required that the facility notify the health department that temperatures were within normal range before accepting new or returning patients.
According to court documents, officers observed facility staff interviewing a patient in the intake area and that staff confirmed they were providing care to walk-in patients and assessing patients, despite the temperatures throughout the facility ranging from 66 degrees to 91 degrees on Aug. 12.
The temperature requirement for patient areas is within 70 to 75 degrees, court documents say.
An employee, who wanted to remain anonymous because he is still employed at St. Luke's, said he was not surprised that the air conditioning broke, and was still broken days later. He told 12News employees were still working inside the building, where temperatures are 85 to 90 degrees.
Steward Health Care sent a statement to 12News on Aug. 12:
"We have transferred all the patients out of the facility. We have offered our employees the opportunity to come to work at this time, but there is no requirement to do so. The supply issues occurred before Steward filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and there have been almost no issues since then. We hope to have the HVAC system up and running soon; in the meantime, the employees who choose to come to work are in air-conditioned areas."
Officers also observed the elevators not working on Aug. 12.
Documents state that maintenance issue logs for the past year show multiple issues with HVAX systems, elevators and kitchen equipment “with no documentation of repairs being made.”
The health department asked St. Luke’s to submit various documents that were not provided to the department as of Aug. 13, court documents state.
“The deficient practice posed a direct risk to health and safety, because the Facility did not provide and maintain optimal and acceptable temperatures and ventilation to patients,” court documents say.
A former employee also told 12News the facility had shortages of the most basic supplies for residents.
"The building hasn't been maintained," Cassandra Bizon said. "And for an old building, you really do need to be maintaining it."
Bizon said she worked for St. Luke's for four years but was fired in April after raising concerns about what was happening there.
“I had to gently threaten to go to the Department of Health before we were able to actually get supplies brought in from corporate," Bizon said.
When inspecting the kitchen, documents state that officers found numerous violations, including:
- Kitchen staff not wearing required hair nets
- Open, non-covered drains on the floor
- Exposed pipes on the tripping hazard
- A sink encrusted with “black debris”
- Broken kitchen equipment that was “dirty with a dried, blackened greasy material and dried food material”
- Exhaust vents covered in a black, greasy substance
- Multiple food items, which were designated to be provided to patients, were found to be outdated by at least two months
- Kitchen floor was dirty with a “dark, blackened material around the stoves, ovens and refrigerators”
- White powdery substance on the sides of the walls and floor of the walk-in freezer
- No HVAC system in kitchen
"Employees have been bringing in our own supplies, including cups for patients, so that they have cups to drink coffee and water," Bizon said. "I know that snacks were low so patients were not getting enough snacks throughout the day. All personal hygiene products, we were out of for several weeks.”
According to court documents, the facility did not provide documentation of when the exhaust vents had been cleaned and serviced.
The Department of Health requested temperature logs from St. Luke’s for the past year. St. Luke’s provided the department with temperature logs from January 2023 through November 2023, but no other times, court documents state.
“The deficient practice posed a direct risk to health and safety, because the Facility did not provide and maintain optimal and acceptable temperatures and ventilation to patients," court documents said.
The court documents said after reviewing staffing assignments/staffing sheets for multiple months, there were multiple days in which the facility was short staffed by 1-2 registered nurses and 1-2 behavioral health technicians than the required staffing level.
St. Luke’s also failed to obtain documentation that verified a fire inspection was conducted according to the timeframe established by local or state fire departments, court documents state.
“The foregoing violations threaten the life, health and safety of the patients at the Facility and imperatively require emergency action in the form of the immediate suspension of license,” the court documents state.
Steward Health Care filed for bankruptcy and plans to sell off its more than 30 hospitals across the country.
The company is under federal investigation by the Senate Health Committee, and the company's CEO has been subpoenaed to appear before Congress.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced her office is opening an investigation into the bankruptcy, as well.
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