INDIANAPOLIS — Three rehab centers for drug abuse that Indiana had to close will now be given a second chance.
13News has learned that state officials have reached a settlement deal with Landmark Recovery. This could mean that those troubled recovery centers can get their licenses back.
The Indiana Department of Family and Social Services took away Landmark’s licenses to run treatment centers in Mishawaka, Bluffton, and Carmel last summer. This meant that the centers could no longer provide services in the state.
There were three deaths at Landmark’s Praxis treatment center in Mishawaka in one week, which led to the change. After interviews and inspections, FSSA found 37 things that needed a corrective action plan and major concerns about the safety of the residents.
Since then, Landmark has been trying to get the addiction treatment centers back open, and they have now made a deal with the state to do so.
As part of the settlement, Landmark will give up its right to challenge the state’s decisions to revoke its licenses. As payment, the business will be able to apply for new licenses to run Landmark Recovery of Carmel, Praxis Treatment of Fort Wayne (Bluffton), and Praxis of South Bend (Mishawaka), as well as to open other treatment centers in Indiana.
Landmark agreed not to apply for a new location more than once every six months, that any new facilities will have no more than 32 beds, and that for the next year, any new treatment centers will send reports every two weeks to FSSA’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction to show that they are following state law and the company’s own safety rules.
As part of the deal, Landmark also agreed to show that it has enough staff before adding more beds at its treatment centers. And if state regulators find that any of Landmark’s Indiana sites don’t follow 10 or more state rules that call for a corrective action plan, the company won’t be able to apply for new certifications until it has shown that it has been following the rules for at least six months.
Landmark can start the process of getting new certifications for its centers in Bluffton and Carmel right away, but the agreement says that the company has to wait at least a year before it can ask for recertification in Mishawaka.
Landmark can now put in an application to reopen its treatment centers, but it still has a lot of court problems to deal with.
Over 100 former patients have sued the company, saying they were hurt because Landmark facilities were disorganized and dangerous and didn’t have enough staff.
Landmark has said in court documents that those claims are false.
