This incomprehensible crime has struck a deep emotional chord with tens of thousands of Arizonans, so Phoenix PD will certainly be even more aggressive in their pursuit of the villain as the crime victims family, San Carlos Apache Nation and countless Arizonans cry out for swift and unrelenting justice.
Timmons Shenanigans, Jeffries Pressure and Ducey Dereliction
It has been widely reported that Tim Jeffries, the former DES Director, had significant concerns and issues with Hacienda Healthcare and Bill Timmons, the CEO. Within four weeks of Jeffries’ directorship, his management team for the DES Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), had articulated an array of concerns to him regarding Hacienda. Jeffries said, “Bill Timmons had a widespread, dare I say cancerous, reputation of being intemperate, belligerent and abusive to hardworking DES staff…and more than likely his Hacienda staff too. My managers at the time strongly warned me not to cross Timmons due to his bad temper, his political connections and his apparent willingness to take whatever issue he had directly to the Governor’s Office.”
There were also staff concerns raised about financial transparency and overall partnership cooperation. Jeffries said, “The good DES folks I met with were borderline terrified of Timmons despite their concerns about finances and operations. In fact, one former DES executive told me, ‘Don’t push back on Timmons because he always gets his way.’”
The Hacienda Healthcare contract with the State of Arizona provides Hacienda over $20 million a year to care for some of the most developmentally disabled in Arizona. The contractual engagement with Hacienda was one of the biggest and most significant for the DES Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD). Simply stated, it was a lot of taxpayer money to take care of a lot of special Arizonans. However, DES DDD staff informed Jeffries it was not believed that Hacienda’s care warranted a per client investment of 300% more than the going average. These financial concerns were communicated with Jeffries around the same time the Timmons “demanded” a significant and indefensible price increase in 2015.
Governor Ducey’s main campaign slogan during his first successful run for Arizona Governor was “Government at the Speed of Business.” Recruiting Jeffries to his cabinet was a big step in that direction because Jeffries was a seasoned global executive with a proven track record of financial results, organization restructurings, and enterprise transformations. So, it was natural for Jeffries to prepare a “SWOT Analysis” during his first 30 days at DES, the state agency that most people viewed as irreparably broken yet Jeffries viewed as a gem to be polished. A SWOT Analysis is a Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats Analysis and Jeffries listed “Project Hacienda” as a “Threat” in March 2015. He did so for previously outlined reasons in addition to various anecdotes and rumors regarding Timmons and Hacienda.
Consequently, when Timmons pressed aggressively for a significant price increase even though Hacienda was already being paid three times the typical per client rate, Jeffries would not approve. As expected, Timmons exploded and pledged to take his concerns directly to the Governor and the Governor’s Chief of Staff. Timmons’ combativeness was on display throughout 2015. It elevated further in 2016 when Jeffries directed his DDD team to press for 2015 Hacienda financials due to DES per the multimillion contract and subsequently launched a full audit of 2014 Hacienda financials.
Jeffries’ staff was unsuccessful securing 2015 Hacienda financials, so Jeffries and his team enlisted the Office of the Arizona Attorney General to compel Hacienda to provide them in March 2016. Hacienda adamantly and repeatedly refused throughout 2016. Consequently, Jeffries and his team led by respected law enforcement veteran Charles Loftus, the Chief Law Enforcement Officer at DES in the Office of Inspector General (OIG), engaged the Attorney General’s Office again in mid/late 2016 to compel the AG to open a criminal investigation. The initial investigation was to focus on an audit of 2014 Hacienda financial information conducted by Audit Management Services (AMS) of the DES OIG. The multi-month audit identified approximately $4 million in questionable Hacienda transactions and billings. Jeffries and his team’s intent and plan was for the Arizona AG to criminally investigate 2014 financial dealings and work back in time (2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009…) and work forward in time (2015, 2016…) on Hacienda financials. After Jeffries’ and Loftus’ ousters from DES the day before Thanksgiving 2016, the Attorney General’s criminal investigation was terminated in 2017.
To this very day, the Arizona Department of Economic Security and their partner agency AHCCCS, the state’s healthcare agency, have not received 2015 financials from Hacienda Healthcare. In addition, the Ducey Administration has not received any Hacienda financials for 2016, 2017 and 2018. Despite this, the State has continued to pay Hacienda and provide them developmentally disabled clients. It’s been a surreal bureaucratic business as usual approach to a vendor in egregious breach of contract that also refuses to abide by a court order to provide the 2015 financials. Based on state contract estimates, the State of Arizona has paid Hacienda close to $100 million since 2014.
Jeffries Action and Ducey Inaction
Former DES Director Jeffries counted his tenure and service at DES by the day. He will rarely tell you he served 21 months as DES Director. He will tell you he served 633 Days. He counted his state service by the day to highlight to his approximately 8,000 employees and contractors that “Every day was precious” and every day was often pressure-packed for the poor, sick, disabled and disadvantaged. DES was a slowing moving calcified bureaucracy according to Jeffries when he arrived in early March 2015. Jeffries attempted to transform DES into the top agency in the State and premier social services agency in the country. Most importantly, Jeffries passionately (at times, perhaps too passionately) sought to transform DES to be the very best agency possible for the 1.6 million Arizonans that needed her, including 34,000 developmentally disabled citizens that Jeffries often called “Arizona’s most special and treasured citizens.”
Jeffries and his team did not approve Hacienda requested price increases in 2015 and 2016. DES OIG Audit team audited Hacienda’s 2014 financials. The audit team found highly questionable financial activities and billings. According to both Jeffries and Dr. Charles Loftus of the Inspector General team, they implored the Arizona Attorney General to formally demand 2015 financials from Hacienda and criminally investigate the highly suspect state vendor in 2016.
As a result of their findings, Jeffries directed his team in mid/late 2016 to start planning the cessation of sending new client patients to Hacienda. Jeffries also directed his team in late 2016 to start the analysis and planning to transfer Hacienda client patients to other care facilities. DES officials were unified in their decision to terminate Hacienda as a state vendor by 2017.
After Jeffries was forced to resign and he and members of his leadership team including Loftus, were “escorted out of the DES headquarters the day before Thanksgiving 2016, every one of Jeffries’ actions, moves and plans regarding Hacienda were terminated by the Ducey Administration in 2017.
The Ducey Administration accepted the Attorney General’s termination of the criminal investigation of Hacienda even though the AG never investigated years beyond 2014 and it remains questionable as to whether or not the AG deeply investigated 2014 financials.
The Ducey Administration, specifically Henry Darwin, the Governor’s Chief Operations Officer, and Michael Trailor, the new DES Director, directed the DES Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) to terminate the planning to halt new client patient transfers to Hacienda and the planning to prudently transfer Hacienda patients to other more accountable state partners. The Ducey Administration also terminated all discussions and planning to terminate Hacienda as a state vendor as led by the politically-connected Timmons.
Among the array of CYA statements from the Governor and his office typically in response to yet another Jeffries media interview, the following statement is offered regularly, “We have and will continue to take a very aggressive approach to Hacienda, despite their consistent stonewalling.”
Jeffries released a personal statement about the Hacienda Rape and Scandal last week and has shared it with numerous media outlets that have contacted him. He reminded ADI that he has loved and served the developmentally disabled since his high school years, close to 40 years ago. He has also served crime victims, including his family, in varying ways since 1994. He released a personal statement about the Hacienda Rape and Scandal last week and has shared it with numerous media outlets that have contacted him.
“The heinous rape of a vulnerable and defenseless San Carlos Apache woman at Hacienda is absolutely disgusting and detestable!! The horrific sexual assault never should have happened because Hacienda staff should have protected her. Furthermore, the unfathomable violence never should have been possible because Hacienda should have been terminated nearly two years ago per my directive as DES Director. More specifically, Hacienda should have been criminally investigated in 2016, vigorously prosecuted in 2017 and prudently terminated no later than 2017. It saddens, sickens and vexes me that my directives were recklessly and negligently scuttled after my forced resignation on November 23, 2016.”
During recent interviews with CBS Channel 5 in Phoenix and the CBS This Morning in New York, Jeffries expressed admiration for and confidence that the Phoenix Police Department would find the rapist and justice would be served.
Jeffries also called on his DES successor Director Michael Trailer “to do the honorable thing and resign” because of “absolute disgrace of all of this.” Jeffries has said that “if we were in Japan, Governor Ducey would do the right thing and publicly apologize to the family, the San Carlos Apache Nation, the developmental disability community, including social workers, and all Arizonans” for his failure to direct actions that were already in motion and that would have prevented the rape in 2018.
There is little chance Ducey and Trailer will do the right thing, but there is also little doubt that the Phoenix Police will work diligently to uncover all of the wrong-doing and the culprits behind it.