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State investigating after Jacksonville father dies at mental health facility

By Jenna Bourne and Action News Jax
By Jenna Bourne and Action News Jax
The state is investigating the death of a Jacksonville father who was getting help at Wekiva Springs Center on July 3.
Action News Jax started looking into Don Boudreau’s death after a man who identified himself as a fellow patient reached out with concerns.
His wife Angela Boudreau said her husband checked himself into Wekiva Springs, seeking help for mental health and substance abuse.
She told Action News Jax their 7-year-old son is trying to be “resilient” after losing his dad.
She said the hardest part is not being able to give their son a reason why his father is dead.
Angela Boudreau posted on Facebook about their last conversation before her husband’s death, saying, “They took him off a medication and replaced it with a different one.”
That lines up with what a man who identified himself as a fellow patient told Action News Jax. He said the father of three did not feel well after taking a new medication.
He said he woke up and saw someone performing chest compressions on Don Boudreau.
That man has asked Action News Jax not to identify him because he may go back to Wekiva Springs in the future for treatment.

Wekiva Springs Center Business Development Director Stella Bryskin emailed Action News Jax a statement saying in part that a patient "passed away in his sleep. Staff immediately initiated CPR and called 911."

Bryskin would not answer whether any employees have been disciplined in connection to Boudreau’s death.
The Agency for Health Care Administration confirmed it is investigating the death.
Action News Jax asked AHCA spokesperson Shelisha Coleman if that’s standard procedure after a patient dies at a facility.
“No, it depends on the cause of death and if the Agency receives a complaint or incident report,” Coleman said in an email.
Action News Jax requested Boudreau’s autopsy from the Duval County Medical Examiner. A spokesperson there said they will send the report when it’s finalized, but that could be months away.
Action News Jax reported a series of investigations into Wekiva Springs and its sister Facility River Point Behavioral Health in 2016 and 2017, after dozens of patients said they were held against their will longer than medically necessary so the facilities could milk their insurance payments.
In April, Action News Jax reported that an attempted murder suspect who was a patient at Wekiva Springs escaped from the facility

Cox Media Group

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