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Hobbs orders 2 Arizona agencies to investigate their own responses to assisted living complaints

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs is directing two state agencies to investigate their own responses to complaints at a Mesa assisted living facility where a resident was killed by her roommate.

Hobbs ordered the Department of Health Services and Adult Protective Services to immediately launch an investigation into what she called the agencies’ unacceptable response to complaints at Heritage Village. 

The Arizona Republic reported that Heritage received 148 state citations over the past three years. It also has paid more fines than other comparable assisted living facilities.

In addition, Hobbs announced her administration will prioritize accountability by cracking down on bad actors, implementing robust licensure requirements, and increasing regulation and certification of facilities advertising Alzheimer’s, memory and dementia care.

Some of those efforts will require legislative changes.

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KJZZ senior field correspondent Kathy Ritchie has 20 years of experience reporting and writing stories for national and local media outlets — nearly a decade of it has been spent in public media.