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Crystal Care, one of the largest home health care companies in Minnesota, was on the brink of collapse and had stopped paying its employees. Many had quit going to work, leaving their sick and bedridden patients at home for weeks with limited or no care. Even as state officials learned of the crisis, no one alerted Parson.
The slow demise of Crystal Care, which finally shut its doors in March, reflects the grave and widespread problems that shadow the home health care industry as it grows explosively in Minnesota and across the country.
The industry is also wracked by instability. Of the roughly 800 companies that employed personal care assistants in Minnesota in 2009, one-third have since closed their doors, according to a state database analyzed by the Star Tribune. State records also show that more than 100 home care companies have had more than $350,000 in unpaid-wages claims in the past five years.