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Monday, September 16, 2013

PER MACHT FREI: Per Wickstrom's Drug Clinics Score Failing Grades After License Inspections; State of Michigan Slams Wickstrom's "You Vill Work For Free" Forced Labor Therapy; Best Drug Rehabilitation, A Forever Recovery "Not In Substantial Compliance"

In September 2011, Human Rights Watch released “The Rehab Archipelago”, a 121-page report documenting the experiences of people confined to fourteen South Vietnam drug detention centers.  In Vietnam, “labor therapy” is stipulated as part of drug treatment by law, and drug detention centers are little more than forced labor camps where tens of thousands of detainees work six days a week processing cashews, sewing garments, or manufacturing other items.

In an August 8 substance abuse facility licensing inspection report, the State of Michigan determined that A Forever Recovery (AFR) and Best Drug Rehabilitation (BDR) were conducting their own forms of “labor therapy”.  AFR and BDR were both cited for violating the human rights of clients paying upwards of $25,000 for drug rehabilitation by forcing them to clean the facilities—without payment for their labor. 


In addition, the report revealed a critical lack of emergency care readiness, no discharge documentation for clients moved between facilities and “co-mingling within the same space with no physical separation whatsoever”, a clear reference to the unlicensed Tranquility Detox.

[NOTE] AFR and BDR both refer patients to the 163 North Avenue facility in Battle Creek for detox services, and location run in tandem by the two clinics. However, no license exists for Tranquility Detox. 

A FOREVER RECOVERY 

AFR’s annual license inspection was conducted on June 25 in Battle Creek, Michigan at 216 St. Mary’s Road. AFR participants included Tamra Hall, Clinical Director, and Lisa Lee, Deputy Executive Director.


Jay Calewarts, Manager, Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, and Chris VanFleet, Regulatory Officer, represented the State of Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA).

Based on the inspection findings, LARA determined that the program was “not in substantial compliance with the requirements of the code and rules, specifically Michigan Administrative Rules for substance abuse programs R325.14101 through R325.14928.”


The report cites these two violations:

1) In the Client Handbook for ‘A Forever Recovery’, under ‘Client Rights’, it is stated that: Clients, when appropriate, have the right to participate in their treatment and treatment planning. Per the administrative rule R 325.14305 (1) A recipient shall participate in the development of his or her treatment plan. The phrase “when appropriate” should not be in the explanation of the Client Rights as that it is not the way it is explained in the Administrative Rules.

2) The program had the clients conducting chores such as cleaning various areas of the facility. The program did not have a policy on chores describing the rationale how the chores were therapeutic benefit as required by R 325.14306 (6)
 

LARA’s report states that a “recipient has the right to be free from doing work which the program would otherwise employ someone else to do, unless the work and the rationale for its therapeutic benefit are included in program policy or in the treatment plan for the recipient.”


BEST DRUG REHABILITATION

BDR’s annual license inspection was also conducted on June 25 at 163 North Avenue in Battle Creek, the building serving as the home of “Tranquility Detox”. [NOTE: BDR's Manistee location was not inspected during the June visits.]


LARA’s Calewarts and VanFleet were accompanied by its Executive Director, Douglas Wickstrom.


Based on the inspection findings, LARA determined that the program was “not in substantial compliance with the requirements of the code and rules, specifically Michigan Administrative Rules for substance abuse programs R325.14101 through R325.14928.”

The report cites the following eleven violations:

1) The facility currently has two licenses for the same location. Licenses are site-specific. If there are two licenses at the same address, the programs must be physically separated within the building, such as separate suites. Upon entering the building, it was realized that both Best Drug Rehabilitation and A Forever Recovery were co-mingling within the same space with no physical separation whatsoever. Since there is no physical separation, one of the licenses must be surrendered unless a physical separation is provided.

2) All policies were for Tranquility Detox. The name on the policies must match the program name listed on the license to ensure that the policies are in fact for the program which is licensed.


[NOTE] There is no license for “Tranquility Detox” since it’s run in tandem by AFR and BDR. Both facilities send their clients to Tranquility Detox before routing them to whichever facility originally recruited them.

And to make the situation less tranquil and even more confusing, a check of the State of Michigan’s Business Entity records shows two corporations using the name "Tranquility Detox". 


One of them, Tranquility Detox, Inc., was registered on May 9, 2011 as a Domestic Profit Corporation by Per Wickstrom’s nephew, Stephen Anderson.

The other corporation, Tranquility Detox, was registered on the same day as a Domestic Non-Profit Corporation by Grand Rapids attorney Phillip Slot. Slot and Tom King are representing AFR in its zoning suit against Pennfield Township.


3) Recipients’ rights were not posted in a public place as required by R325.14302 (9) Rights of recipients shall be displayed on a poster provided by the office in a public area of all licensed programs. The poster shall indicate the program rights advisor's name and phone number.

4) The administrator stated
the program did not have an agreement with an emergency inpatient program as required by R325.12115 (3) An agreement shall exist between the licensee and 1 or more licensed medical service facilities for the provision of emergency inpatient and ambulatory medical services. If such a facility does not exist within 40 miles of the licensee's facility, an agreement shall exist between the licensee and a physician to provide emergency services.

 
5) The administrator stated that the license was kept at the corporate office. The license was not posted in the facility as required by R 325.14212 (5) The current license shall be posted in a conspicuous public place in the program. For purposes of this rule, the term "license" includes a provisional license or a temporary permit.

(6) When a document is required by the act or these rules to be posted in a "public place" or in an area "accessible to patients, employees, or visitors," the term means any of the following locations in a program:
(a) The main entry or hallway.
(b) The reception area or foyer.
(c) The dining room or multipurpose room.

7) Visitor hours were not posted in a public space. The administrator stated that visitors "were not allowed at this facility." There was no written policy on visitors or visitor hours. Policy can restrict visitors under certain circumstances but this provision of the rule does not allow a program to deny all patients the right to receive visitors for their entire stay at the facility. Reference R 325.14306 (2) A program shall post its policy concerning visitors in a public place. R 325.14306 (3) Unless contraindicated by program policy or individual treatment plan, a recipient is allowed visits from family members, friends, and other persons of his or her choice at reasonable times, as determined by the program director or according to posted visitors' hours. A recipient shall be informed in writing of visitors' hours upon admission to the program.


8) The program did not have a policy for restraints. The administrator stated that the program did not use restraints. The program is required to have a policy on restraints (and if they are not used the policy should reflect that) per R325.14306
(5) A recipient has the right to be free from physical and chemical restraints, except those authorized in writing by a physician for a specified and limited time.


Written policies and procedures which set forth the circumstances that require the use of restraints and which designate the program personnel responsible for applying restraints shall be approved in writing by a physician and shall be adopted by the program governing authority. Restraints may be applied in an emergency to protect the recipient from injury to self or others. The restraint shall
be applied by designated staff. Such action shall be reported to a physician immediately and shall be reduced to writing in the client record within 24 hours.


9) The program had the clients conducting chores such as cleaning various areas of the facility. The program did not have a policy on chores describing the rationale how the chores were therapeutic benefit as required by R 325.14306 (6) A recipient has the right to be free from doing work which the program would otherwise employ someone else to do, unless the work and the rationale for its
therapeutic benefit are included in program policy or in the treatment plan for the recipient.


10) Page 7 of the A Forever Recovery Rehabilitation Center Blue Cross/Blue Shield Insurance Enrollment Agreement states that money remaining in the Client’s account will be mailed within 30 days. Per R 325.14306 (8) A recipient has the right to receive all money or other belongings held for him or her by the program within 24 hours of discharge.

11) Clients are currently shuttled back and forth between this facility and other facilities located at 216 St. Mary’s Lake Road, Battle Creek (A Forever Recovery #SA0130102) and 300 Care Center Drive, Manistee (Best Drug Rehabilitation Services #SA0510026). 

Currently there is no discharge documentation done when moving clients back and forth between facilities. Since these are separate facilities with separate licenses, clients must be properly admitted and discharged from the facility as required by 
R 325.14902 and R 325.14928 respectively.

Jay Calewarts confirmed in an email to Miss Fortune that A Forever Recovery and Best Drug Rehabilitation provided the State of Michigan with their respective correction plans on September 16.

Miss Fortune will bring you further updates as they become available.

Forced labor, no emergency care, no policy on restraints?

Looks like somebody has been reading his Schicklgruber!

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!

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