Homes for Disabled Ordered to Give Agency Patient Data

A court commissioner Thursday ordered lawyers for the Machado Family Homes to provide the Developmental Disabilities Center access to the records of 34 past and current patients.

Commissioner Eleanor M. Palk said officials of the center, which has accused the Machado Family Homes of improper care at its four Orange County facilities, may begin reviewing the records today.

Ralph C. Quiroz, attorney for the center, said the agency has the right to inspect and make copies of all patient records in the Machado family’s possession. Under a contract with the state, the center has found homes for 2,800 Orange County adults who have developmental disabilities.

The center has charged that two women became pregnant while living at the Machado homes during the past two years and that two other persons were burned by excessively hot water in the shower. Last week, center officials also said they had discovered that a man had been sexually abused while living at a Machado home on Evergreen Avenue in Cypress.

There are two other Machado homes in Cypress and one in Stanton, as well as two others in Los Angeles County. The homes are run by Maria Machado and her three sons.

Since last Friday, center officials have removed 12 of the 34 patients the agency had placed in the Machado homes. However, Quiroz said the Machado family had refused to supply the records. The Machados also have filed a $13-million lawsuit against the center, seeking to prevent it from removing the patients.

John Baker, a lawyer for the Machados, said Thursday that the family never refused to show the center its records.

“We did not deny them the medical records. But they wanted all the records. We told them it was too voluminous. And they said, ‘we’ll see you in court,’ ” Baker said.

Quiroz said some of the patients removed from the homes have been without their regular medication because medical records were not provided by the Machados.

“We’re very pleased with the order because the records are very vital to the proper care of the patients,” he said.

However, Baker responded that the center is lax in how it monitors and tracks the patients it has placed in the Machado homes. He said that the reason the center wants to review records of all the patients is because it does not keep adequate records of its own.

“The records we have are more meticulous than what they have,” he said. “The Machados keep records of everything.”

Baker also predicted that the center would eventually remove the remaining 22 patients still under the Machados’ care.

“That’s what they want to do. They’ll get them all out,” he said. “But we will prevail with the lawsuits.”

Center officials agreed that their intention is to remove the patients they have placed in the homes. The Machado homes received $365,400 in state and federal money in 1986 for caring for the 34 patients placed by the center, officials for the agency said.