LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — The owner of a troubled New Baltimore psychiatric hospital at the center of years of reporting from 7 News Detroit has agreed pay nearly $20 million to settle claims of fraud and abuse.
Since 2017, investigative reports by 7 News Detroit have revealed repeated cases of physical and sexual abuse among patients and staff inside Harbor Oaks Hospital.
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Last week, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced a civil settlement agreement with Acadia, the owner of Harbor Oaks Hospital and others across the country, to settle claims that about a dozen of the company's hospitals submitted false claims to government healthcare programs.
The almost $20 million will be paid to the states of Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada, and the federal government, Nessel's office said, with more than $6 million of which will go to Medicaid programs.
Michigan will receive $412,504.84 in Medicaid restitution and other recoveries, according to a press release.
“Medicare and Medicaid are essential programs that exist to assist those who need help securing health care,” Nessel said. “When these systems are exploited, my Department will work with the federal government and other attorneys general to protect taxpayers and the integrity of these health care programs.”
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According to an announcement from Nessel’s office, the allegations against each of Acadia facilities include:
- Admitting patients to the facility who were not eligible for inpatient treatment;
- Failing to discharge patients who no longer needed inpatient care;
- Excessive lengths of inpatient stays;
- Inadequate staffing and insufficient staff training and supervision, resulting in assaults, elopements, suicides, and other patient harm; and
- Failing to provide inpatient care per federal and state regulations, such as failing to develop individual treatment plans, failing to provide active treatment, including individual and group therapy, and failing to provide adequate discharge planning.
The settlement stems from allegations made in 2017 inside Harbor Oaks, Nessel’s office said, the same year 7 News Detroit began airing more than a dozen reports looking into abuse, staffing challenges and alleged criminal behavior happening inside the hospital that treats some of Michigan’s most vulnerable psychiatric patients.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
