Home Health & Hospice Week
Whistleblower Sues Over Kickbacks, Ineligible Patients
A Kansas hospice is facing whistleblower charges that it kept ineligible patients on service and provided kickbacks to nursing homes for referrals. Former Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas employee Trudy Shouse also claims the nonprofit penalized and eventually fired her for bringing the behavior to management, reports the Kansas City Star newspaper. Catholic Charities denies the claims “but will not discuss the matter further at this time as it is the subject of litigation,” spokesperson Carol Cowdrey told the paper. Shouse alleges that Catholic Charity’s Angel Vigil program, which paid for outside agency staff to work in skilled nursing facilities, operated as a marketing scheme to generate referrals. She also identified long-stay patients who were no longer eligible for care. Shouse reported the eligibility problems to her then-boss, Executive Director Vince Teglia. Then when she went above his head to the CEO and COO when he took no action, she got written up for various trumped up infractions and was eventually suspended and fired, her complaint charges. Teglia, who no longer works for Catholic Charities, told the Star “hospice business was conducted with ethical business practices, transparency, and legal and regulatory compliance,” according to a statement he furnished. On Oct. 2, the Kansas District Court extended Catholic Charities’ deadline to respond to the suit to Oct. 29, according to the court docket.
Home Health & Hospice Week
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Whistleblower Sues Over Kickbacks, Ineligible Patients
A Kansas hospice is facing whistleblower charges that it kept ineligible patients on service and [...] - Industry Notes:
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