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    • Avanti Senior Living gets new owner after Peoria license revoked
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    Avanti Senior Living gets new owner after Peoria license revoked

    Umito Posted on

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    A 94-bed assisted living facility in Peoria has a new owner after previous Texas-based owners. Avanti Senior Living failed to correct a pattern of neglect that led to the loss of his license, state health officials said.

    The facility, previously known as Avanti Senior Living at Peoria, is now tentatively licensed as Spring Gardens Peoria and is owned by the Mesa-based company. Avista Senior Living. Residents “have the option to remain in their current living environment if they choose,” according to a news release from the Arizona Department of Health Services.

    “The department appreciates the efforts of staff and partners to resolve the unfortunate situation with Avanti and will continue to work with Avista Senior Living as they assume day-to-day operations and care,” the release said.

    State health officials shared a letter with residents and families at Avanti Senior Living in Peoria saying leaders misled residents and families about the situation.

    “Recently, we were alerted that a senior living facility in Peoria, Avanti Senior Living, had directed residents to find alternative living arrangements. The guidelines did not provide an explicit timeline and misled residents about the time when the establishment’s license was revoked as well as the reason for the revocation,” the letter states.

    “Although it took over a year to prepare residents for the possibility of a closure of the facility, it appears that Avanti has denied the reality and seriousness of the situation and is trying to pass it off as for a simple administrative error.”

    Avanti Senior Living and Avista Senior Living did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday and Friday. According to Avanti websiteit does not operate any other facilities in Arizona.

    Its six other facilities are in Texas and Louisiana, and the company’s website Friday did not list Peoria as one of its locations. State records show Avanti Senior Living in Peoria first obtained approval to operate in Arizona in 2020.

    Public health officials say they tried to negotiate with Avanti

    When the Department of Health considers revoking a facility’s health care license, Arizona Administrative Code says it must consider the direct risk to the life, health and safety of a patient (resident) based on repeated violations of laws or rules, patterns of violations, types of violations, severity of violations, and number of violations.

    Multiple citations related to resident safety over the course of nearly two years at Avanti Senior Living in Peoria led the Arizona Department of Health Services to notify the company in August 2023 that the state intended to revoke the establishment’s license.

    An administrative law judge upheld the license revocation on May 28, 2024, and Avanti’s subsequent efforts to stay the revocation were unsuccessful. State records show the license was revoked on Nov. 6.

    “Throughout the process, the Ministry was willing to negotiate a settlement agreement to avoid revocation, but Avanti chose to challenge the Ministry’s decision through the legal process,” the Health Ministry statement said.

    The problem at the facility was not that residents were in immediate danger or that some had been physically harmed, but rather that a combination of repeated violations and failure to correct them put residents at risk of negative consequences , said a state Department of Health compliance officer. testified before Administrative Law Judge Amy Haley in May.

    “Ultimately, revocation was a last resort,” Haley wrote. “In this case, the Department considered the fact that 24 violations were cited, 10 of which were repeated deficiencies (some for the third time), and the licensee’s overall non-compliance.”

    Haley wrote that the facility’s leaders “demonstrated blatant disregard for rules, procedures and the law.”

    In March 2023, an inspection of the facility revealed two dozen alleged violations, ranging from lapses in paperwork to the hiring of an unqualified employee. State investigators also found numerous repeated violations, including one that the facility failed to develop and administer a staff training program to prevent falls and how to assist residents to recover from a fall – a failure that “presented a risk to physical health and safety.” ” of the inhabitants.

    Other repeated violations state inspectors said included residents not being informed about vaccinations offered at the facility, state records show.

    Judge: Waiting for a bad outcome is irresponsible

    On Jan. 24, Avanti Senior Living agreed to pay $4,000 to the state after repeated violations in which a nurse or other physician failed to document updates to residents’ service needs, including whether Residents needed assistance with basic activities of daily living, including using the toilet. .

    In one case, the service plan for a resident whose condition had deteriorated to the point of requiring “practical assistance” with bathing, toileting and using the toilet indicated that the resident was capable of performing these tasks independently. The inaccuracy put the resident’s safety at risk by not having his needs met by caregivers, a state inspector wrote.

    Residents’ service plans determine their needs, Haley wrote in her May 28 decision to revoke the facility’s license. If the document was not up to date, a resident’s needs might not be met or may not have been met, especially if there was staff turnover, Haley wrote.

    In her written decision, Haley criticized Avanti for arguing there was no evidence the actions put residents in direct danger.

    “Surely the licensee did not mean to suggest that a resident must first suffer harm from violations before the violation can be considered a direct risk. At that point, it is no longer a ‘risk,’ by definition,” Haley wrote. “Waiting for a result is irresponsible and the antithesis of health care. »

    The new operators of Avista Senior Living operate 11 locations across Arizona, as well as multiple locations in California, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah and Washington. The Avanti facility will be the third facility and first assisted living care service in the West Valley operated by Avista.

    “We will closely monitor progress to ensure a smooth transition of services and continuity of care,” Arizona Department of Health officials said in the news release. “We encourage residents and their family members to share any concerns about quality of care during this transition to avistaseniorliving.com“.

    Contact healthcare reporter Stephanie Innes at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter: @stephanieinnes.

    Umito
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