Following reported sex assaults, Grassley makes inquiry into ORHC

Mar. 20—The reported sexual abuse of at least nine female patients by a now-deceased Ottumwa Regional Health Center nurse practitioner has got the attention of Sen. Chuck Grassley.

The senior Iowa Senator sent a letter to several officials involved with the hospital expressing his "serious concerns" with the reported incident, while inquiring into the hospital's multiple financial transactions in recent years.

In January, the Ottumwa Police Department said that while looking into the October 2022 overdose death of 27-year-old Devin Michael Carracio, of Centerville, they found videos and photos on his cellphone that showed him sexually assaulting nine female patients while they were sedated in 2021 and 2022.

Caraccio had been found dead at an office inside Ottumwa Regional Health Center on Oct. 15, 2022.

In a letter, dated March 17 from Grassley, the incident was cited as the long-time Republican Senator questioned the "series of opaque and questionable acquisitions, mergers and other related-party transactions" that have occurred since 2010.

In his letter, Grassley worries those transactions have created a resource gap at ORHC.

"While all of this sounds like a bad Hollywood movie, it happened at a hospital in my home state of Iowa," Grassley wrote. "When I see the type of tragic lapses that occurred at Ottumwa Regional ... it raises serious questions with respect to whether these hospitals have the right resources or if they are being loaded with overwhelming amounts of debt to the point where they are forced to shift money away from patient care."

ORHC was sold to RegionalCare Hospital Partners in 100, then in November 2015Apollo Global Management acquired Regional Care in an $800 million deal that created RCCH Healthcare Partners.

In 2016, Apollo purchased Capella Healthcare from Medical Properties Trust and merged it into RCCH Healthcare to create a $1.7 billion-valued company. In 2018, Apollo purchased LifePoint Health for $5.6 billion, and merged it with RCCH under the LifePoint Health brand.

Grassley noted a 2019 transaction was of particular concern. That's when Medical Properties Trust acquired the real estate of 10 LifePoint Hospitals, including ORHC, for $700 million in a sale-leaseback transaction. Those kinds of transactions, Grassley said, have been characterized as a "ponzi finance" scheme that dumps losses onto patients, communities, investors and taxpayers.

In 2021, Apollo resold LifePoint Health to a fund it owned for a $1.6 billion gain. LifePoint also received $1.64 billion in COVID stimulus aid, including $650 million in grants it won't have to pay back.

Grassley is seeking additional information into ORHC's financial stability and information to help determine whether the multiple transactions may have contributed to the sexual assault incidents.

Grassley's letter was addressed to Edward Aldag Jr., chairman, president and CEO of Medical Properties Trust; Charles Kaye, chairman and CEO of Warburg Pincus; David Dill, chairman and CEO of LifePoint Health; Marc Rowan, CEO and Apollo Global Management LLC; and Eric Carlson, chair of ORHC Board of Trustees.

Cara Clouse, a public information officer at ORHC, told the Courier Monday the hospital was preparing a detailed response for Sen. Grassley, but didn't address his concerns regarding the many iterations of financial transactions that have taken place involving ORHC.

"We, like the senator and his team, are deeply disturbed by the conduct of a former ORHC employee, which violated our policies and fundamental values, and we continue to engage with law enforcement and other officials on this issue," Clouse said in a written statement provided to The Courier. "ORHC has proudly served the people of Southeast Iowa for over 125 years, and we continue to support and invest in ORHC to provide the best possible care to the people of Ottumwa."

Kyle Ocker is the editor of the Ottumwa Courier and the Oskaloosa Herald. He can be reached at kocker@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kyle_Ocker.

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