BLUFFTON, Ind. (WANE) – Owners of a substance abuse treatment center have released a plan to Bluffton city officials addressing lapses and missteps in several practices in the aftermath of a woman who went missing and ended up dead.
An “investigation report” by the owners of Landmark Recovery, doing business as Praxis of Fort Wayne, found that its facility at 1529 Lancaster St. needed to – among other things – make transportation for people discharged more readily available, make sure people being discharged have fully charged phones an provide a safe place for those being unexpectedly discharged to wait.
The report, dated March 10, comes after numerous complaints from Bluffton citizens about the facility’s practices.
Those complaints came to a head after 48-year-old Celeste Cuthbert, of Fort Wayne, was found dead in a Bluffton yard. She was last seen alive at Praxis, where she was released earlier this year, according to investigators.
“Landmark Recovery has taken a humble approach to investigating the issues, missteps, findings, and remedies to be the best-in-class substance use disorder treatment facility that we are known for at other locations,” the company’s 9-page report said. “We recognize that the population we serve can be challenging and being able to provide these much needed services in a welcoming community like Bluffton is a great gift for these individuals and for our organization.”
The facility provides services to 48 individuals at a time, according to the report.
According to the report, discharging policies were geared more for those living in an urban environment where public transportation was readily available, and not in a town like Bluffton with a more rural surrounding.
The report also said those being admitted to the facility will be more educated about expectations and community rules.
Safe transportation plans for all people discharged are now being implemented, as well, according to the report.
Staffing will be beefed up and leadership will be strengthened, the report said, with a new executive director expected to reach out to community members to discuss the progress and updates on the plan.
“We recognize that we made some mistakes and failed to account for some differences between this location and our more urban locations,” officials wrote in the report.
Earlier this month, Matthew Boyle, Founder and CEO of Landmark Recovery addressed the public with at a city council meeting with news of the plan.
“We were not training our managers on what to do when patients wanted to leave early in terms of how to get them safely to their destination,” Boyle said at that meeting.
He also said:
“I’m here. We messed up. I own it.”
Nothing suggested foul play in the death of Cuthbert, who was found by a yard crew after she went missing New Year’s Day.
