Boise health service with worker charged in disabled client’s death had training violations
After the death of a 38-year-old disabled man in May 2019, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare conducted an audit on A Caring Hand, the home health service that was taking care of the man.
Benjamin Reed, of Boise, died after his hired caregiver, Omar Hamadi, put him in what authorities called a “scalding hot bath.” Reed, who was disabled and could not move himself, later died of the severe burns at a Salt Lake City hospital. Hamadi was an employee of A Caring Hand at the time. A Boise Police Department report states that Reed suffered severe burns to 30 percent of his body.
Hamadi, 24, is charged on suspicion of abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult, but has pleaded not guilty. He awaits trial while out of custody, and his next court date is set for March 10.
Reed’s death triggered an audit by IDHW, and the Idaho Statesman obtained a copy of the results this week. Several deficiencies were found at A Caring Hand, including that it did not meet the requirements outlined in Idaho Administrative Code and the Medicaid Provider Agreement.
The document, dated Sept. 23, 2019, states that A Caring Hand failed to meet training requirements.
“Documentation submitted does not demonstrate that all required areas of the training matrix were completed. Thank you for utilizing the training matrix checklist; however, only the areas where the (registered nurse) is required to train were completed. ALL areas of the training matrix must be completed, and the documentation must support the completion of the training.”
In Idaho, a caregiver like Reed’s would have had to pass a written test on bathing, according to the state’s training matrix. But they don’t need any special diplomas.
A Caring Hand was using the program called In The Know, which offerings training for caregivers.
The IDHW report states, “The documents submitted do not support that the IN THE KNOW training was used for all staff and the Training Matrix components were incomplete.”
A Caring Hand was also found to be deficient in service delivery documentation. Issues included signatures being timestamped prior to the service delivery. Also, a service-delivered timestamp did not always equal the time in and time out.
The Bureau of Long Term Care within the Division of Medicaid later conducted a quality assurance review at A Caring Hand, and it was found to be in compliance again on Oct. 14, 2019.
A Caring Hand has been a Medicaid provider since 2008, and as of Thursday, it had 87 patients on Medicaid, according to Health and Welfare. In 2019, around the time Reed’s death occurred, A Caring Hand had 189 patients on Medicaid.
Health and Welfare does not have the authority to discipline a service provider. Instead, the department has the enforcement actions available that are outlined by the state. Those actions potentially include suspending or limiting payment or limiting enrollment of new members with the provider until the provider has corrected deficiencies, or terminating the provider agreement.
A Caring Hand was “very willing” to correct its deficiencies, according to Health and Welfare.
The agency was required to provide evidence to IDHW that it is training staff and has updated policies and procedures to ensure that training as outlined in the Idaho Administrative Procedures Act was included.
IDHW spokesperson Niki Forbing-Orr said Medicaid did not take action regarding its provider agreement, but A Caring Hand has been on its radar to watch for incoming complaints.
“Medicaid would have conducted a targeted review this fall but (A Caring Hand is) up for a full review in January, which means that the division begins looking at documentation in December,” said Forbing-Orr.
The Idaho Statesman reached out to A Caring Hand on Friday for comment but did not receive a response.
