Amy Greene
01/15/2000
CHOCTAW - A home for mentally handicapped adults where a client's death went undiscovered for six days may face fines up to $10,000 a day by the state Health Department.
A health department report released Friday alleged 10 deficiencies found during a week-long investigation of the Choctaw Living Center.
If the 100-client center does not comply with the remedies outlined in the report by Feb. 5, it will lose its Medicaid certification, health department Deputy Director Brent VanMeter said Friday.
Repeated attempts Friday to reach officials with the center were unsuccessful.
The Choctaw Living Center, 4707 N Harper, has been in and out of compliance over the past decade, VanMeter said. The center has a history of client abuse and neglect, not to mention financial problems.
At least six former employees have faced prosecution for mistreatment of residents. Another employee was convicted of raping a client in 1991.
The center has been the subject of litigation over who owns it since the original owner defaulted on a $3.5 million loan to build it.
The latest health department investigation was scheduled before the unattended death of resident Victoria Pepiakitah on Jan. 7, VanMeter said.
Choctaw police are investigating the 48-year-old's death because she was found dead in her room six days after she was last seen by staff.
VanMeter said the death was the result of a seizure and that staff believed Pepiakitah was with family. He said he didn't expect any criminal charges.
Pepiakitah's body was found by the cleaning staff.
Pepiakitah's sister, Linda Johnson, said she didn't think to ask about problems with abuse and neglect when Pepiakitah moved into the living center 10 years ago.
And all that Johnson has learned about the living center's problems this month has convinced her that this investigation and punishment will not solve the problems.
"It doesn't really make them change anything," she said Friday.
She said she feared for Pepiakitah's safety because Pepiakitah was allowed to leave the center by herself. Johnson said she didn't have the option of moving her sister.
Johnson, who lives in Harrah, said she didn't want to move Pepiakitah any farther away.
Pepiakitah, who functioned at about the level of an elementary school child, was allowed to go to the store whenever she pleased, Johnson said.
"She had too much freedom, I guess you could say. They didn't care if she was coming or going."
Johnson said she will wait on a report from the medical examiner's office about what caused her sister's death.
Police are also waiting on the report, which should take about six weeks, Choctaw Police Chief Billy Carter said.
Police have been called to the center 88 times in the past 10 years for everything from assault and battery to rape, Carter said.
VanMeter also said he has never before heard of a nursing home resident's death going unnoticed for so long. He said that Pepiakitah's death and "potential client abuse" are the most egregious offenses listed in the report.
The center was built in the mid-1980s. Nearby residents opposed the center and protested when the city council zoned the land for the nursing home, Choctaw City Manager Robert Floyd said.
Floyd said the city has received complaints of clients' leaving the center and entering homes without permission. But other than that, the center has been a good neighbor, he said.
Mayor Bobbie Freeman worries the latest controversy will hurt Choctaw's image and that fines will be too steep to fix the center's problems and to keep its doors open. The Choctaw Living Center is one of the city's largest employers.
"I hate to see anything like this happen. It's very unfortunate, and things need to be taken care of."
© The Oklahoma Publishing Co. and its subsidiary, Connect Oklahoma Inc.
Article may be downloaded for personal use or research but not for distribution.
PHOTOS may not be downloaded without written permission from The Oklahoma Publishing Co.