Nonprofit agency loses aid for homes
By Dan Nakaso and Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writers
A nonprofit agency that provides care for mentally retarded adults has lost federal Medicaid support for two of its facilities and will lose Medicaid for two more homes on March 3, the group's board of directors was told yesterday.
The nonprofit Arc in Hawai'i has or will lose Medicaid support for its Dominis House center on Diamond Head road, 'Ewa A and Halawa homes on O'ahu and Wailua home on Kaua'i. But Arc in Hawai'i officials may try to get the homes recertified to qualify for different federal dollars, said Thomas Look, the board's secretary.
The three homes care for a total of about 15 mentally retarded patients, Look said. It was unclear yesterday how many patients are treated at the much larger Diamond Head facility.
The homes and center take care of "patients that act out kind of violently," said Richard Zamora, executive director for the SEIU Local 556/5000 that has been trying to negotiate its first contract with Arc in Hawai'i. "They require a lot of medication. They tend to be the more difficult type of clients to handle."
Richard O'Connell, an Arc in Hawai'i board member, said it's unclear how patients would be affected.
If the homes and center close, "some place for them to live will have to be found."
But Charlotte Townsend, a board member for 12 years, said, "We received no information about closing. We're assuming that a lack of federal funding does not mean a closure."
Townsend and several other board members directed further inquiries to board president Lambert Wai, who was unavailable for comment. The Arc in Hawai'i's executive director, Garrett Toguchi, did not return repeated telephone messages.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified Arc that the four facilities no longer qualify for the federal program because they do not meet federal statutory requirements that include care management and treatment services.
Officials from the SEIU Local 556/5000 have been trying to negotiate with ARC in Hawai'i for the past 18 months. They said the loss of Medicaid was the result of several problems at the homes that stemmed from low staffing levels.
"It has to do with the ratio of caregivers to patients and violations of procedures that management is not following," Zamora said.
The Arc in Hawaii is a nonprofit organization whose programs are designed to improve quality of life and help people who are mentally retarded to lead independent lives.
In recent years, the organization has provided residential services through 14 "developmental disabilities domiciliary homes," 11 intermediate care facility homes for the mentally retarded and four apartment buildings on O'ahu and Kaua'i.
According to Arc in Hawaii, each of the organization's homes provide residential living arrangements for three to seven individuals, accompanied by a live-in home manager.
