SHALLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - An assisted living facility in Brunswick County has been ordered closed, and the director and several employees are facing criminal charges, officials said.
Shallotte Assisted Living Community, owned by a Shelby-based company, received the suspension notice from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Service, which was dated Wednesday, news sources said. The center was to be shut down by 5 p.m. that day, according to the letter.
The suspension said conditions at the facility presented “an imminent danger to the health, safety and welfare of the residents.” Rule citations include health care, residents’ rights, medication administration, and more. This stems from a complaint investigation initiated one week ago, news sources said.
Center officials have 20 days to request a hearing, according to the state.
Officials with the state Department of Health and Human Services, the Brunswick County Department of Social Services and Trillium Health Resources are assisting with relocating residents to different locations. A spokeswoman didn’t say exactly where the residents were being relocated.
According to a news release from the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, a separate investigation by the SBI and Shallotte Police Department began on Jan. 3 that was initiated after approximately 3,700 doses of controlled medications at the facility were reported stolen.
Tammie Bullard, the facility director, and her husband, Earl Bullard, an employee of the facility, were arrested last Friday. Tammie Bullard faces multiple charges, including felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and felony possession of a stolen firearm. Earl Bullard was arrested on multiple charges, including a domestic violence protective order violation.
Three other employees have been charged with obstruction of justice.
Virginia Cotugno, a cousin of a Shallotte Assisted Living resident, said the facility’s conditions have been in decline, according to WWAY.
“The food was getting really bad, where the food looked like it was for dogs to tell you the truth,” Cotugno said. “It was like slop, you don’t even know what they were eating.”
In 2013, the facility was fined $64,500 by the state for failing to protect residents from mental and physical abuse, and for failing to maintain rules about controlled substances and personal care and supervision. As recently as last August 2019, the facility was fined $9,000.
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