The Oregon Department of Human Services has barred South Hills Rehabilitation Center in Eugene from accepting new residents after the death of a patient earlier this month.
Carol Clove Petitti was a woman with dementia and Parkinson’s disease who went missing from the facility on July 5.
According to Eugene Police, she was found dead three days later in a dense brush near a path about a 10-minute walk away.
According to an ODHS order dated July 15, Petitti had attempted to escape twice in the two days leading up to the incident.
But ODHS said the facility failed to take proper steps to keep her safe following the earlier incidents.
On July 15, the state placed a new licensing requirement on the facility. It won’t be able to accept new patients until it takes steps to correct its deficiencies and train its providers on dementia care.
“While we cannot speak to the details of an investigation at a facility, including South Hills Rehabilitation Center in Eugene, we do want to express our deepest sympathies to the resident’s family and friends for their loss,” said ODHS spokesperson Elisa Williams in an email to KLCC Thursday morning.
South Hills Rehabilitation Center has a long history of recorded issues. It has a one-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and it’s listed as a candidate to become a Special Focus Facility, denoting a pattern of noncompliance.
KLCC has reached out to the facility and its parent company, Volare Health, for comment.
The ODHS lists two substantiated abuse violations under the rehab’s current ownership, for failure to protect residents from financial exploitation and verbal abuse in 2024.
The facility also has dozens of substantiated care violations under current ownership for issues like low staffing, poor medication management, and failure to ensure residents’ safety.
