Sex abuse probe launched after Arizona woman gives birth in coma

Patient requires 24-hour care, indicating that facility's staff would have access to her room

The sudden birth of a baby boy to a woman who had spent the last 14 years in a deep coma has sparked a sex abuse investigation.

The incident reportedly occurred at a Phoenix nursing facility, Hacienda HealthCare in the American state of Arizona, according to the RT News.

Staff at Hacienda HealthCare were not even aware of the fact that the woman was pregnant "until she was pretty much-giving birth," a source told KPHO.

"From what I've been told she was moaning. And they didn't know what was wrong with her," they added.

The baby, a healthy boy, was delivered on December 29.

The mother has been living at Hacienda after suffering from a near-drowning incident left her brain damaged over 14 years ago.

She demands 24-hour care, indicating that many of the facility's staff would have access to her room, as she is incapable of any communication or voluntary movement.



Since the birth, Hacienda has placed a policy of requiring female employees to accompany male employees to female patients' rooms, most likely pushed forward by the Arizona Department of Health Services, which said in a statement that it has implemented "heightened safety measures" that include "increased staff presence during patient interactions as well as surveillance of patient care locations".

A Hacienda spokesperson said the facility was assisting with law enforcement and regulatory agencies on the "unprecedented matter" as well as reviewing its own "processes, protocols, and people."

Hacienda nearly lost its Medicare funding in December 2013 after Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) found at least one staff member was abusive to multiple patients while several staff members were deficient in reporting patient allegations of abuse by staff.

One staff member was fired for making repeated inappropriate sexual comments to patients. Hacienda was given a year to fix the "defects" in staff training and staff treatment of patients or be removed from the Medicare roster.

This article was originally published in the RT News.