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CEO and two doctors working for healthcare facility in Phoenix resigned after woman in coma gave birth

Posted at 5:10 PM, Jan 21, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-21 19:10:03-05
Hacienda Healthcare
Hacienda Healthcare CEO resigns and two physicians are no longer working there after a woman in a vegetative state gave birth (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

PHOENIX  — Ever since a 29-year-old woman, who has been in a coma for more than a decade, gave birth at a nursing facility late last month, police in Arizona have been trying to narrow down the persons responsible.

A spokesperson for Hacienda Healthcare says the facility’s board of directors unanimously accepted the resignation announcement of Bill Timmons, CEO of the facility, on Monday.

A board member says the facility “will accept nothing less than a full accounting of this absolutely horrifying situation.”

Police took DNA samples from every male employee working at the long-term care facility.

Within hours of the baby’s birth, a sex crimes unit took over the case.

Hacienda Healthcare released a statement today saying two physicians who were responsible for taking care of the sexual assault victim are no longer working at the facility. One physician resigned and the other doctor is suspended.

Arizona’s governor calls the situation “deeply troubling.”

The attorney representing the woman who was sexually assaulted said the baby boy has been born into a loving extended family and will be well cared for.

Hacienda’s most recent state inspection resulted in six citations.

State regulators reportedly wanted to remove patients from the facility years before this investigation.

The Arizona Republic reported that Hacienda Healthcare faced a criminal investigation in 2016. The facility allegedly billed the state some $4 million in bogus 2014 charges for wages, transportation, housekeeping, maintenance, and supplies.

Phoenix police say the matter is still under investigation and declined to comment further at this time.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)