MESA, AZ — Hacienda HealthCare has announced it will close a hospital in the southeast Valley that caters to children.
The 24-bed facility near Baseline and Extension roads currently has four patients, Hacienda said in a news release announcing the closure.
The facility, which opened in 2015, provides non-emergency, non-surgical, "step down" care to children who are ready to leave a surgical or intensive-care hospital but whose condition is too medically fragile to return home.
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The hospital will remain open until all patients have been moved or the hospital is sold, Hacienda said.
"As a non-profit, Hacienda HealthCare doesn’t have a surplus revenue to sustain Hacienda Children's Hospital in the face of difficult circumstances," said Perry Petrilli, Hacienda's interim chief executive officer said in a statement.
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The 42 employees at the Mesa hospital will be offered positions within Hacienda, Petrilli said, and no layoffs are anticipated.
Petrilli alluded to the rape of an incapacitated patient at Hacienda's intermediate care facility by a nurse last year as having a negative impact on the organization.
"The tragic events of the past year have hit hard for so many people – everyone from the victim and the families impacted to Hacienda's employees to the communities we serve. At the same time, there also has been a substantial impact to our business. This hard, but necessary decision is one more example of that," he said.
The nurse believed to be involved in the 2018 incident, Nathan Sutherland, was arrested earlier this year. Sutherland has since surrendered his nursing license, and a hearing has been set for late August to determine when his trial will begin.
