Hearing officer reviews Massick Memorial’s discharge of resident William Brown; appellant absent

A hearing officer presiding over the appeal by resident William Brown of his June 20, 2025 notice of discharge from Massick Memorial Home reviewed facility evidence and took testimony from facility staff at a July 8, 2025 administrative hearing; Brown did not appear.

The facility’s manager, Marilee McPheeeters, and assistant manager Frances Dodd testified that Brown’s behavior had escalated since his return in March 2025, describing ongoing drug use, confrontational and intimidating conduct toward staff, visitors associated with drug activity, and two earlier incident reports from 2024. The hearing officer entered into the record the facility’s notice of discharge, Brown’s appeal and signed filings showing he received notice of the hearing, plus facility exhibits including incident reports, photos of drug paraphernalia and a hunting knife, billing ledgers and emails with an ombudsperson.

Why this matters: administrative hearings are the forum for determining whether a facility’s discharge of a resident complies with applicable procedures and statutory standards; the record the hearing officer accepted will be the basis…