ORDERS:
CONSENT AGREEMENT AND ORDER
FINDINGS
OF FACT
- On November 2, 2005, the South Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control
(Department/DHEC) filed a Notice of Motion and Motion for Contempt, asking this
Court to hold Ms. Annel S. Wade-Heyward in contempt for willfully disobeying
the Consent Agreement and Order issued by the Court on March 25, 2005. Ms. Wade-Heyward is the Owner/Licensee of C & S, a community residential care
facility (CRCF). Now unlicensed by the Department, the Facility and an
adjacent building are part of a ten-acre campus on property near Alvin in
Berkeley County, South Carolina, collectively known as “L’il Owl.”
2. The March 25, 2005 Consent
Agreement and Order provided that:
a. The Licensee [of C & S]
would voluntarily close the facility within 60 days from execution of the
Consent Order.
b. With closure the Licensee
agreed to:
1. Provide residents of the
facility with a 30-day written notice prior to closure;
2. Assist residents in
transferring to other appropriate facilities;
3. Ensure that all residents of
the facility were appropriately transferred no later than 60 days following
execution of the Consent Order;
4. Ensure that residents were
given their personal possessions;
5. Ensure that residents were
given a refund (as appropriate);
6. Ensure that residents were
given their medications (as appropriate).
7. Notify the Department in
writing regarding where the residents were transferred, their address, and the
date of transfer within 10 days of transfer.
8. Notify the Department in
writing where resident records would be stored for six years following the
closure of the facility; and
9. Return the last license issued
by the Department for this location to operate as a community residential care
facility.
Additionally, the
Licensee agreed to withdraw its pending contested case in this matter and
agreed not to operate an unlicensed CRCF within South Carolina.
3. After notice
to the Respondent, a hearing on the Department’s Motion for
Contempt was heard at the Adminstrative Law Court on December 12, 2005. At the conclusion of that hearing, the Court
ordered that the hearing would re-convene on January 5, 2006 and that by that time:
a. Ms.
Annel-Wade was to comply with all provisions of the March 25, 2005 Consent
Order and Agreement;
b. All
residents of C & S who required residence in a community residential care
facility were to be moved by January 5, 2006 and their location disclosed to
the Department, along with information regarding their funds, medications and
personal possessions;
c. The
Department was to provide Ms. Wade-Heyward with names of facilities where
residents might be appropriately located; and
d. The
Department was to be allowed to re-inspect the C & S premises and an
adjacent building at a reasonable hour and speak with residents to determine
whether the terms of the Consent Order and Agreement were being complied with.
4. By consent of the parties and the Administrative Law Judge, the hearing
was
continued until January 12, 2006.
5. At the January 12, 2006 hearing the Court heard testimony from the
Department
regarding its December 29, 2005 inspection of C & S and its inability to
determine a) whether an unlicensed community residential care facility was
being operated at either C & S and/or the adjacent building, and b) whether
all residents needing CRCF care had been relocated appropriately, when they had
been relocated, and whether their medications, funds and possessions had been
transferred with them.
6. During a recess in the January 12, 2006 hearing, Petitioner and
Respondent
were able to
resolve their differences and conveyed that resolution to the Court. The Court
then received testimony from both the Department and from Ms. Wade-Heyward that
the agreement between the attorneys reflected the wishes of both Petitioner and
Respondent. The terms of that agreement follow.
THEREFORE, IT IS AGREED AND ORDERED
THAT:
- Within fifteen (15) days of
execution of this Order, C&S Community Care Home
agrees to furnish
the Department, in writing, the names of the residents presently living at C
& S and the adjacent building and affirm that they are self-care boarders.
Additionally, C & S agrees to submit to the Department within fifteen (15) days
of execution of this Order the following items:
- A list of the location or discharge information of
residents identified in Exhibit #1 ( a list of residents emailed to
Justin Lucey, attorney, by Nancy Layman, DHEC attorney, on January 11,
2006).
1. If
any of these residents are currently boarders, the facility is to advise the
Department in writing that these individuals do not require the care or
services of a licensed community residential care facility.
2. If a
resident requires CRCF care and has been discharged, C& S Community Care
Home must advise the Department in writing of:
a. The resident’s name and the
location where he/she was discharged;
b. The amount of money returned
to each resident (any
refund due and personal spending
money owed);
c. The medications returned to
each resident (as appropriate);
d. The location where each
resident record will be stored for the six years following his/her discharge
from the facility;
3. If a resident does not require
CRCF care and has been
discharged, the location to
which he/she has been discharged.
- Any existing license issued by the Department for C&S
Community Care
Home to operate as a
licensed community residential care facility. If the
facility cannot locate any
of the licenses issued by the Department, it will
submit a written, signed,
dated statement of this fact.
- C& S Community Care Home agrees to permit unannounced,
periodic inspections
by the Department of the two main
structures at 1325 Santee River Road, Alvin,
South Carolina, excluding the
private quarters of Mr. and Mrs. Heyward, for six
months following execution of this
Order. If the Department has cause to inspect the
private quarters of Mr. And Mrs.
Heyward, it will give twenty-four hours advance
notice to Mr. or Mrs. Heyward or
to their attorney, Justin Lucey. Additionally,
unless it receives permission from
Mr. or Mrs. Heyward or obtains other legal
authorization to do so, the
Department will not enter other buildings on the property.
- C &S Community Care Home agrees to maintain a list of
boarders and
their medications, as disclosed by
the boarders, that will be updated monthly for the
six-month period following
execution of this Order.
- The Division of Health Licensing of the Department agrees
that prior to
proceeding with any new
enforcement action against C & S or the adjacent building
for the six months following
execution of this Order, it will notify Ms. Wade-
Heyward and
Justin Lucey, attorney for C&S Community Care Home, to allow resolution of
the matter. Thereafter, the Department will give Ms. Wade-Heyward seventy-two
(72) hours to correct the violations, as cited, before taking enforcement
action. However, should representatives of the Department find during an
inspection or investigation of C&S Community Care Home that conditions
constituting a public health emergency exist, it reserves the right to issue
emergency orders and to contact appropriate parties/agencies for review/action pursuant
to S.C. Code Ann. § 44-1-140 (2002).
- Ms. Wade-Heyward agrees not to
operate a facility unlicensed that is required by
the state of South Carolina to be licensed.
6. This Consent
Agreement and Order resolves all matters related to the March 25, 2005 Consent
Agreement and Order. The Court shall dismiss, with prejudice, DHEC’s Motion
for Contempt against C&S community Care Home. No evidentiary matter or
charge that has been raised in this proceeding may form the basis for any
future enforcement activity by DHEC.
AND
IT IS SO ORDERED
This case is
dismissed with prejudice.
February
9, 2006
Marvin Kittrell Date
Chief Administrative Law Judge |
