In conducting a licensing review of Cook County Wilderness Outpatient on September 20, 2018, the Minnesota Department of Human Services found 14 areas that were out of compliance with rules that govern a substance use disorder treatment center and issued correction orders.
Most of the violations were found in record keeping. An example is, “The license holder’s service initiation policy did not include the titles of all staff members authorized to initiate services for clients.”
Corrective actions ordered by the state give the county 30 days to fix the violations.
Several violations were repeats. The license holder, Cook County Wilderness Outpatient Program, was cited for a similar violation in a Correction Order dated August 3, 2016.
When asked about the review, Cook County Public Health & Human Services director Alison McIntyre said, “An on-site licensing review was conducted in September by the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
“PHHS was notified in October that the audit found 14 citations, none of which imminently endanger the health, safety, or rights of the persons served by the program. Eight of the citations were related to the program policy manual and six of the citations were related to documentation in employee personnel and client files.
“Cook County PHHS as the license holder for the Wilderness Outpatient Treatment Program is responsible for working with the program to address the citations and submit documentation of corrective action within 30 days. Cook County PHHS has submitted all requested documentation for the corrective action to the State Licensing Division but has yet to receive response indicating compliance or ongoing need for corrective action. Cook County PHHS is subject to regular audit reviews of programs and views this as a valuable learning tool and opportunity to improve.”
If the violations specified in the Correction Order are not corrected within the prescribed timelines the commissioner may issue an Order of Conditional License or may impose a fine and order other licensing sanctions pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, sections 245A.06 and 245A.07.
If the county believes any of the citations are in error, it has the right to request that the commissioner of Human Services reconsider the parts of the Correction Order believed to be in error. The request for reconsideration must be in writing and received by the commissioner within 20 calendar days after receipt of this report.
However, a request for reconsideration does not stay any provisions or requirements of the Correction Order. The commissioner’s disposition of a request for reconsideration is final and not subject to appeal under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 14.
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