Gov. Doug Ducey is shuttering the board responsible for licensing nursing home administrators after an Arizona Republic investigation revealed its members approved a felon who forced employees to work while sick with COVID-19.
Nine families are now suing the Prescott nursing home. Almost all the suits are for wrongful death.
Kathy Smith, who lost her husband after a brief stay at Granite Creek, was happy to hear that the board will be disbanded.
“They weren’t doing anything except drawing a wage,” she said.
Dana Kennedy, AARP’s Arizona Director, said a major problem with the board was that it was made up of nursing home administrators charged with regulating their own kind. She said they “had a blank check.”