Oregon governor’s office orders independent review of DHS in woman’s death • Oregon Capital Chronicle

The Oregon Department of Social Services is facing renewed scrutiny of its policies and practices – this time following the death of an elderly woman suffering from dementia who ran away from a care facility and died alone outdoors on a winter day.

Ki Soon Hyun’s body was found outside in the forest on Christmas Day.

An investigation by Oregon’s long-term care ombudsman blamed the agency for her death and recommended an audit of DHS in April. Two months later, an official in Gov. Tina Kotek’s office said the governor had ordered an outside audit of DHS’s oversight practices.

DHS oversees 2,070 nursing homes, long-term care facilities and assisted living facilities that serve thousands of vulnerable Oregonians. It is supposed to ensure their safety by licensing facilities, tracking complaints and imposing sanctions that can include facility closure. But DHS and the agency that was supposed to keep them safe failed Hyun, officials said.

She moved into the Mount Hood retirement home two days before her death.

“Mt. Hood Senior Living has failed in multiple ways to adequately care for Ki Soon Hyun and the rest of the facility’s residents,” said Walter Dawson, chairman of the Governor’s Commission on Senior Services, in a letter to the governor’s office in April.

He added that DHS had ignored warning signs that pointed to problems at the agency and the threat posed to the people of Mount Hood by “allowing an owner with no knowledge of long-term care to open a state-licensed dementia care facility.”

Two months later, Kotek’s senior advisor Rachel Currans-Henry Dawson wrote a letter informing her that the agency had ordered the testing to protect residents.

DHS is also under pressure to improve its foster care system to protect vulnerable children. In May the agency has decided a lengthy legal battle over the mistreatment of foster children. It agreed to improve the system by working with an outside expert to improve its oversight. Agency agreed Late last month to work with Kevin Ryan, who has helped Texas, Michigan and Oklahoma improve their care systems.

DHS expects to work with Ryan for at least 10 years, and the external audit of its oversight of long-term care facilities is expected to be completed long before then, although the review has not yet begun.

“Plans to engage a consultant are still in the very early stages, and at this time no details have been finalized regarding the contractor selection process,” DHS spokeswoman Elisa Williams told the Capital Chronicle.

She said the agency was “looking forward to the process” and was committed to improving its systems.

Citing pending litigation, she declined to comment on any policy changes that would improve DHS oversight of long-term care facilities.

Hyun’s family has filed a $17 million wrongful death lawsuit against Mount Hood Senior Living and the Department of Human Services. The family welcomed the review.

“Our family applauds Governor Kotek for ordering an audit of the Oregon Department of Human Services,” the family said in a statement to the Capital Chronicle. “It is a travesty that our mother’s tragic death had to be the impetus for DHS to try to get its act together. We fully support the development of policy solutions that can hopefully prevent our painful loss from happening to other Oregon families. All older Oregonians are entitled to care from competent and fully trained caregivers in secure facilities.”