State orders Ridgeview facility to shut down and relocate its clients

EUREKA SPRINGS -- An "assisted care" facility in Eureka Springs has been ordered to shut down following an investigation into the arrest of a resident who reportedly bludgeoned fellow residents and a staffer with a table leg on Sept. 26.

Ridgeview Residential and Assisted Care Center, located behind the Victoria Inn on Ridgeview Road, has until Dec. 11 to relocate its clients, said Det. Joe Barbalace, with the Eureka Springs Police Department.

Barbalace said state officials told him on Oct. 7 that Ridgeview was given notice that its license had been revoked. He said that came as good news to him.

"There were people getting hurt," he said. "The care giver who was bludgeoned with the table leg now has a blood clot in her arm where she was struck."

Barbalace said he is familiar with the situation at Ridgeview having investigated the September bludgeoning incident -- and previous assault cases reported in June.

Battery complaints

At that time, police responded to a series of battery complaints at the facility, including one involving a 28-year-old male resident accused of choking and threatening fellow residents and staff with a knife. He was later removed from Ridgeview.

Barbalace filed an extensive investigative report with state and local lawmakers and officials, and has continually questioned the practice of co-mingling mental patients and elderly residents together.

He said state officials stepped in after the June incidents, issued citations and placed Ridgeview under extreme scrutiny.

Then, on Saturday, Sept. 26, Barbalace said he became involved again when police were called to Ridgeview in the middle of the afternoon.

Resident's rampage

This time, 27-year-old Raymond David Jones, a resident of the facility, was arrested for three counts of first-degree felony battery for reportedly bludgeoning fellow residents and a lone staffer with a busted table leg during a rampage.

His victims, who included an 84 year-old female, were transported to the Eureka Springs Hospital where they were treated for lacerations, bruises and bumps.

Jones remains incarcerated at the Carroll County Detention Center where he has delayed his bond hearing until Oct. 26, when he can be represented by a public defender. According to jail officials, Jones remains separated from the general inmate population.

Barbalace said he appreciates the work of state agency representatives who investigated the allegations surrounding Ridgeview operations. Specifically he named Cheryl Skinner with the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services; Sherril Proffer with the state's office of Long Term Care; and Vicky Cummins with the Department of Human Services (DHS).

Inter-agency cooperation

"It was a pleasure working with the three of them," he said. "There was a real cooperation among the agencies."

It is his hope, Barbalace said, that this situation might bring to light the pitfalls of co-mingling the mentally ill with elderly residents in the same facility.

"Maybe it will change at the state level," he said.

Julie Munsell, with DHS, said Ridgeview was cited in June for admitting inappropriate residents, specifically the mentally ill.

As a general rule, she said no one should be admitted if they have an unstable condition, and a residential facility should be just that -- for those who may need help with bathing and grooming.

Munsell said there is no regulation that prohibits the mix of the mentally ill and the elderly -- so long as the facility has the capacity to protect all; and, meet the needs of all.

Potentially volatile mix

She said the mixing of mentally ill and elderly residents does cause some concern.

It was believed, she added, that the situation at Ridgeview was addressed following the June incidents, but it appears to have continued as an ongoing pattern.

When asked about the citations that were issued, Munsell said they were accompanied by the threat of further sanctions, such as civil money penalties assigned for the time a facility is out of compliance.

Munsell also noted that Ridgeview's owner, Mike Hopkins, has the option of appealing the state's decision to revoke his license.

Owner to appeal

When contacted, Hopkins said he will appeal and issued the following statement:

"Ridgeview Residential Care Facility was recently surveyed by the state Office of Long Term Care. Residential care facilities are highly regulated and subject to many surveys, inspections and audits of various kinds.

"Often surveyors and operators disagree on findings and sanctions. That is why state law requires that each facility have the right to present its side in an administrative hearing and in court if necessary.

"We will make our case to the state, and we believe that we will be successful when given the opportunity to present our side of these issues.

"In the meantime, Ridgeview continues to operate and provide high-quality care to its residents."

Hopkins referred any additional questions to Attorney Robert Wright at the Mitchell Blackstock Law Firm at (501) 378-7870.