Governor Matt Blunt rushed to Anderson today, to a town that was shocked by the deaths of 10 people, nine residents and one worker, at the Anderson Guest House.
As I noted in an earlier post, one area that should be looked at is how the Department of Health and Senior Services allowed a convicted felon like Robert Dupont to own managed care facilities. Not only did he plead guilty to defrauding the federal government's Medicare and Medicaid programs, but he also has been involved in two bankruptcy proceedings and has had considerable financial difficulties, two things which state regulations prohibit for those who operate managed care facilities.
At the beginning of this decade, Dupont dissolved the corporation that ran his Guest Houses, Guest Houses of Missouri, but it wasn't long before he formed another corporation to operate managed care facilities.
An article posted earlier today on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website details some of the background of the Anderson Guest House:
In June 1982, the state first awarded the Anderson Guest House a license. On March 21, 2002, the Joplin River of Life Ministries took over the home. The non-profit takes in $1.23 million a year to operate four group homes in three cities, including Joplin.
On the day Joplin River of Life Ministries was incorporated, Robert J. Dupont had already been indicted and was awaiting trial in U. S. District Court on fraud charges. He had already had three Guest Houses, in Lamar, Butler, and Springfield, closed due to various problems, which are outlined in my earlier post.
He had already had one bankruptcy proceeding.
On that day, March 21, 2002, the Secretary of State put his official seal on the incorporation documents, which read:
"Said corporation is organized exclusively for charitable, educational and/or scientific purposes. The purpose of the corporation is to organize and operate a Christian church, to lease and operate residential care facilities in the state of Missouri and for any other lawful purpose under the Missouri Nonprofit Corporation Act."
Once Secretary of State Matt Blunt imprinted the "Great Seal of the State of Missouri" on the document, Robert Dupont's corporation was "entitled to all rights and privileges granted corporations organized under the Missouri Nonprofit Corporation Law."
Two years later, Joplin River of Life Ministries let its incorporation lapse when it failed to file an annual report. It was reinstated in May 2004 with Laverne Dupont, Robert Dupont's wife as the one who signed the papers. The Great Seal was once again applied by Secretary of State Blunt.
Now Governor Blunt has the bully pulpit and the ability to see to it that state agencies work together to keep people with the kind of track record Robert Dupont has compiled from ever running managed care facilities.
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The governor issued the following statement about the Anderson Guest House deaths:
"Melanie and I are deeply saddened to learn of the deadly fire at Anderson Guest House. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families during this difficult time. We have committed all available state resources to help determine the cause of this terrible event. I have committed the expertise of the Department of Public Safety's Division of Fire Safety and the Missouri Highway Patrol to conduct the investigation. DPS Director Mark James, Highway Patrol Colonel Jim Keathley and State Fire Marshal Randy Cole have all responded to the scene to establish a unified command and ensure the state is providing maximum support to the local and county authorities. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting. The Departments of Health and Senior Services and Mental Health are also responding to the incident. Uninjured residents at Anderson Guest House have been moved to safety at the local armory where facility staff members are providing for their care."
10 comments:
Pray... Prey... One little letter. Big difference.
I guess one of the biggest problems I have with faith-based is that if someone or something uses the word faith or deliberately tries to link themselves to religion people tend to be too trusting... less critical... less observant... more forgiving than they should be. It provides a nice little cover for harmful shortcuts, unethical or even criminal activities.
I believe that in this situation, viewing River of Life as "faith based" is really a stretch.
It will be interesting to see if the Fire Marshall team does ultimately find negligence on the part of the facility (and ultimately on the part of the State-at least in the eye of the public). I think the Governor would have slept a little sounder if crime hadn't been ruled out. He was awfully eager to let the media know from the beginning that they could be looking at criminal activity. So much so that I initially thought, why is he spilling the beans so early-the investigation had hardly begun.
Gee, great investigative work Turner Report!
Where was the Missouri state auditor who should be checking on nursing homes and homes for the mentally challenged? Maybe she was on vacation for a term as she was the week all the newly-elected were to be in Washington for orientation.
Those who are working for Missouri in Washington were eager to talk to her about supporting programs that will benefit our state but she was AWOL!
I think use of the name River of Life was clearly meant to indicate a religious organization and as such could be considered faith-based.
One of the worst things that the republicans have done is reduce staff of various departments that are supposed to inspect, audit, and follow up on complaints so that they can no longer do their job adequately. On the federal level, the series of outbreaks of food contamination is a prime example.
McCaskill is exactly where she is supposed to be and Blunt is sleeping easier because of it.
Anon 2:09-Get off the McCaskill thing! First of all, the Auditor's office typically audits Title nursing homes ONLY unless the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) specifically requests an audit. All the auditor's office can do after an audit is MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS to other state agencies that provide OVERSIGHT, and that would be DHSS, previously the Division of Aging, NOT McCaskill. And then there was Secretary of State Blunt's involvement as discussed on this forum. And of course it was the Blunt administration that cut the DHSS staff.
Gee, I wonder if DuPont contributed to anyone's campaign? Might be worth checking it out.
I've never come across any campaign contributions made by Dupont.
Thanks Randy for checking that out!
Seems as though you've done your homework. tell me what did he eat for breakfast, his favorite color, and the time of his last bowel movement. You see, you should focus more on the fact that it was an accident that occured. He didn't sit up in the attic and rewire the dang thing himself. Move on.
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