State health officials said a drug treatment center near Missoula failed to report serious incidents and did not follow other state regulations.
The state health department launched a complaint investigation earlier this month into the Recovery Centers of Montana’s Clinton facility for men.
The state found that the facility failed to protect a female staffer who was sexually assaulted by a client. According to the report, the staffer was conducting an evaluation with a client alone and had no landline in her office to call for help.
Jim Driscoll, the co-CEO of Recovery Centers of Montana, said the staffer shouldn’t have been alone and that policy has changed. He said he was made aware that a client briefly touched the female staffer in an inappropriate way but said it wasn’t described as a sexual assault
“There was nothing that would be described as sexual assault by any legal standard,” Driscoll said.
Driscoll added that management at the Clinton facility was replaced after the incident.
The state also found the facility failed to report a death on the campus in September and only reported the incident when the State Office of Inspector General visited the facility a couple of days later in September.
Driscoll said the death was due to a pre-existing health condition and was reported to the state in a timely manner.
Investigators found the facility didn’t follow other regulations. It allowed clients to detox on site despite not being licensed for that care, didn’t have enough licensed staff on site and also failed to follow regulations for crafting treatment plans among other issues.
Driscoll said his staff are working to remedy those issues and acknowledges that his staff shouldn’t have allowed people to detox. However, he said it can be hard to find places for clients to detox ahead of treatment.
“There is close to zero options for people who need to be detoxed,” Driscoll said.
The state health department has shifted Recovery Centers of Montana’s license to a provisional status and issued a required plan of correction. State health officials will regularly inspect the facility to make sure the drug treatment center is following the plan.
