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Sherwood Hills Recovery Resort — a Cache County drug rehab facility that has been operating under probationary status for the past year — was shut down Wednesday by the Utah Department of Human Services Office of Licensing, after the agency allegedly found evidence of potential federal law violations, as well as unaddressed and new licensing rule violations.
DHS said the licensing violations included the administration of drugs, safety and staff qualifications.
The drug violations include doctors prescribing medications without proper registration from the Drug Enforcement Administration, without meeting face-to-face with patients and without documenting the administration. The facility also was running an "unregulated internal pharmacy," according to DHS documents.
Sherwood Hills has been operating under probationary status with DHS since last fall, when a notice of agency action was issued against the facility for several alleged administrative and procedural problems. That notice resulted in an order for the resort to stop taking in new clients for a period of time in early 2016.
"Our priorities now are to provide useful information and support to individuals as they transition their care or employment and to cooperate with multiple agency investigations," DHS said in a statement issued Thursday. "There are approximately 50 clients and 88 employees at Sherwood. Many of the residents are from out of state and are presumably at various stages of their treatment, which may be medically sensitive."
DHS said their staff was on hand Wednesday to answer questions at the facility. Local substance use authorities in Cache and Weber Counties and hospitals were notified of potential transitioning needs, as were local and regional lawmakers, DHS said.
Sherwood Hills, located in Sardine Canyon, will have the right to appeal the license revocation over the next 10 days, but will not be allowed to accept new clients during any appeal process, DHS said.
Tyler Gerdmacher, admissions director for Sherwood Hills, said Thursday that the state "hadn't done their homework."
He said the allegations resulted from a clinical error on paperwork made by the rehab facility more than a year ago.
"We're going to fight the allegations," Gerdmacher said. "We believe we do good for people every day and that's our main focus."
The Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing releases a statement saying it was "working closely with the Department of Human Services and DEA on this case and is reviewing evidence as the investigation moves forward."