A facility for troubled teens in Utah is closing after the state government this week refused to renew its license, citing the deaths of several children in its care.
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday informed Diamond Ranch Academy, a residential treatment center that promises to help teens with behavioral, mental health, or substance abuse problems, will not renew its license due to repeat violations. The facility must release all children in its care and close by August 14.
The state’s decision came a day after a Utah Department of Commerce review panel, which included three medical professionals and is part of a litigation process, certain that Diamond Ranch Academy had “violated the standard of care” in various ways prior to the death of 17-year-old Taylor Goodridge.
Taylor, a patient at the center, died on December 20; an autopsy report found that an infection in his abdomen led to sepsis, a life-threatening condition often treated with antibiotics. A state investigation previously concluded that Diamond Ranch Academy did not take her for medical treatment, even though she had vomited for several days before she died.
Taylor began vomiting around December 13 and had an “elevated” heart rate, fever and low blood pressure, and asked to go to a hospital, the review panel found this week. She had pale skin and a distended stomach. However, Diamond Ranch Academy did not take her to see a doctor and did not bring a doctor to campus to see her. The facility finally took a blood sample on December 20, but she died that day before the lab results were complete, she found the panel.
Dr. Danny Worwood, Diamond Ranch Academy’s medical director, was hired to come every two weeks. The last time he saw Taylor was in February 2022, he found the review board. He was scheduled to see her on December 21, the day after her death. A lawyer for Worwood did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, Diamond Ranch Academy CEO Ricky Dias said his company had been treated unfairly by the state government.
“The decision to cease operations has been negated by the unfair treatment of the state of Utah, which has consistently demonstrated its lack of concern for the safety, well-being, and treatment of youth in programs,” Dias said.
Former Diamond Ranch Academy staff members previously told NBC News they were taught by facility management that children would fake or exaggerate being sick to get attention or convince their parents to take them home. The facility controlled when children were allowed to use the phone and who they were allowed to call.
The review panel noted that Taylor had been a volleyball player in good health before becoming ill, and “an elevated heart rate combined with vomiting is cause for concern enough to call a doctor or go to hospital. Pale skin cannot be faked.”
Taylor, a member of the Stillaguamish tribe in Washington, was placed at Diamond Ranch Academy in October 2021 for therapy to address behavioral issues, her family said. Her tribe paid the for-profit facility $12,000 a month, according to a court filing.
Accusations of ill-treatment in youth centers
Taylor’s parents, Dean Goodridge and AmberLynn Wigtion, are suing the facility in federal court, accusing her of failing to care for her daughter’s illness.
“The Taylor Goodridge family has finally found confirmation that their daughter’s death was not accidental,” said Alan Mortensen, the parents’ attorney. He added that the family is glad the state is “holding Diamond Ranch Academy accountable for its terrible decisions. Diamond Ranch has settled to where it is now.”
The facility has tried to obtain the suit. thrown off partly on technicalities, and argued that lack of medical care would not amount to “harmful conditions.” The litigation is ongoing.
The Department of Health and Human Services said in its letter to the facility that the state already placed Diamond Ranch Academy’s licensee on probation twice last year, and that two children had deceased in your care before Taylor.
“This was a tragic death of a healthy adolescent that likely could have been prevented,” the Commerce Department review panel stated in its finding. The finding added that the panel members expected the state to investigate Diamond Ranch Academy, and also “expressed concerns about the entire industry with residential treatment facilities for adolescents.”
