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Ryan Libbey, a former patient at Lakeview. His mother Jennifer Cote gave NHPR permission to publish photos of her son's injuries.This series was the basis for a collaborative investigation by NHPR and Reveal, a new investigative public radio program and podcast produced by The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit newsroom based in California, and PRX. Click here to read the investigation and listen to the documentary, "A Mountain of Misconduct."0000017a-15d9-d736-a57f-17ff8db50000In September 2014, Lakeview NeuroRehabilitation Center in Effingham, N.H. came under scrutiny for abusing and neglecting some of the people it cares for – children and adults with brain injuries and developmental disabilities.NHPR has been looking into these accusations, and it turns out the state had warning signs about series problems at this facility going back to the early 1990s. In this special series and continuing coverage, reporter Jack Rodolico examines the scope of the problems and the state's role in Lakeview's story.

Lakeview CEO Says Facility Will Shut Down

Jack Rodolico
New Hampshire Director of Special Education testifies to the Board of Education. Beside her sits Lakeview's CEO Chris Slover (c) and COO Tina Trudel (r).

Lakeview Neurorehabilitation Center will close its doors. This follows months of scrutiny after documented cases of abuse and neglect.

Lakeview CEO Chris Slover says if the state won’t allow the facility’s special education school to remain open, then he will not be able to keep the entire facility open – that includes an 88-bed treatment facility for people with brain injuries and other disabilities.

"I don’t have a choice. What they’re asking us to do is unrealistic," Slover says.

Stover spoke moments after the Board of Education rejected Lakeview’s appeal of an earlier decision that stripped the school of its certification.

Before the unanimous decision denying the appeal, board member Cindy Chagnon said Lakeview hasn’t met its commitments to the state.

"I just kept feeling the disconnect with what they were saying they have and what was actually happening with kids in the school," said Chagnon.

Lakeview has residents from all over the country, many of whom have been placed there, in part, to receive an education.

New Hampshire has already been pulling its residents and placing them in other facilities. The governor’s office says the state will communicate with other states to ensure for the safety of Lakeview residents.

Lakeview Systems operates facilities in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Slover says it’s possible he will sell the New Hampshire facility – or that 280 people here will be out of a job.

Before joining NHPR in August 2014, Jack was a freelance writer and radio reporter. His work aired on NPR, BBC, Marketplace and 99% Invisible, and he wrote for the Christian Science Monitor and Northern Woodlands.
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