Agency director resigns

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

The executive director of a nonprofit agency that provides care for mentally retarded adults in Hawai'i resigned yesterday, just weeks after the federal government said it would terminate Medicaid payments to four of its facilities because they failed to meet regulatory standards.

Garrett Toguchi submitted his resignation to the board of Arc in Hawaii yesterday. Toguchi, 42, had been with Arc for more than 10 years and served as its executive director since 1998. He also is a member of the state Board of Education.

Arc president Lambert Wai took over as interim executive director. He said a search would begin immediately for a replacement.

Toguchi said his resignation had nothing to do with the termination of Medicaid money for four Arc facilities. Two homes have closed and Medicaid money to two more will be cut off Monday.

"I've been thinking about this for a while, way before any of this stuff ever happened," Toguchi said. He said he hoped to form an advocacy organization to fight for the rights of the mentally retarded.

"I can tell you there was never a good time to leave," Toguchi said. "Nonprofit agencies face difficulties every day. For us, there was a long period of time where we could barely make payroll. It comes to a point where you just have to make a decision what you want to do in life."

Toguchi said he was not pressured to resign. Wai said he did not pressure Toguchi to step down, praising him for his work with Arc.

"Garrett has always been recognized as one of our community leaders in advocating on behalf of persons with mental retardation and their families," Wai said.

Medicaid requires the facilities to be inspected annually. A recently released report noted problems at some of the homes, including no clear policy for reporting injuries, allegations of abuse and neglect, absence of treatment for residents, facilities that were dirty and bathrooms that had toilet paper, tissues and towels locked away.

Wai and Toguchi acknowledged problems at the homes, but said they didn't appear serious enough to shut off the federal money.

"These homes are very difficult to operate, and you don't go without any deficiencies," Wai said. "It's just all of a sudden they decided to clamp down, and that was it. It came as somewhat of a surprise."

Toguchi said the problems cited in the report were not life-threatening, and the report did not contain any evidence of abuse. He said many issues dealt with procedural inconsistencies.

"It's not a matter of bad staff or people with any intent to harm, because we have good, caring staff," he said. "The problem becomes that, in a world where we're dependent on government funds and we have to meet government regulations, if the funding is not sufficient to meet the regulations, then we have problems."

Wai said Arc would divest itself of the five facilities on Kaua'i and have them run by other agencies. He said the organization felt that 16 care homes on O'ahu would be "manageable."