Here is the link: http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/01/13/news/contracts-awarded-despite-inquiry.html
Here is the story. Please go to the ABQ journal site and check it out.
Contracts Awarded Despite Inquiry
First of two parts
A Roswell, N.M.-based psychiatric services firm landed state
Department of Health contracts that allow charges of up to $2,000 a day,
even though it was under investigation for alleged Medicaid fraud at
another state agency.
The contracts between the Department of Health and New Mexico Psychiatric Services signed last summer permit the company to bill up to $623,900 to provide on-call or temporary services to state-run health facilities.
They include the Sequoyah Adolescent Treatment Center in Albuquerque, a 36-bed residential treatment center for violent and mentally ill youth.
At the time the contacts were awarded last year, the company was facing allegations of Medicaid billing fraud at the state Human Services Department. Its payments for services for HSD have been suspended pending the outcome of the inquiry.
A top health department official said in an interview last month that he didn’t know New Mexico Psychiatric Services was under investigation at the time he helped evaluate proposals for the so-called “locum tenens” psychiatric services last April.
But in a follow-up response last week, the agency’s spokesman said others in the agency did know and the inquiry by the state Attorney General’s Office wasn’t a “determinative” factor.
DOH spokesman Kenny C. Vigil told the Journal that the president of New Mexico Psychiatric Services, Dr. Babak Mirin, made a “self disclosure” about the investigation before any contracts were signed last year.
Asked whom Mirin had informed at the DOH and when, Vigil responded: “I don’t have that information.”
The Department of Health and the Human Services Department are separate state agencies, albeit with some overlapping missions involving assistance to New Mexicans.
The Human Services Department, which administers behavioral health services, notified New Mexico Psychiatric Services nearly a year ago of the billing fraud inquiry by the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Mirin’s attorney, David H. Johnson, told the Journal in an email last week that the company has been cooperating with the AG’s investigation “and is committed to the repayment of any overpayments that it may have received.
“At this point there has only been an allegation of billing fraud,” Johnson’s email stated. “Fraud has not been established.”
The Department of Health selected New Mexico Psychiatric Services, along with six other companies last May, to provide services as needed.
In the rankings, NMPS came out second highest in the cost category, with hourly fees as much as $250 an
hour. It was ranked second lowest in experience by DOH evaluators, but was the only company headquartered in New Mexico and tied with two other firms for first place in availability of staff.
All seven firms that submitted proposals were approved to provide services and each state health department facility got to decide which firm to hire.
But New Mexico Psychiatric Services came away with most of the business, signing contracts to serve inpatients at three state health department facilities: Sequoyah; the New Mexico Rehabilitation Center, which provides inpatient and substance abuse treatment in Roswell; and the state psychiatric hospital, New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas.
Three other psychiatric services firms received smaller contracts from health department facilities, according to the state Sunshine Portal.
Within weeks of his firm being awarded the contract at Sequoyah last July, Mirin was named interim medical director there after a shake-up in the center’s leadership.
Five of the center’s employees have since either left, been reassigned or been terminated. One 14-year-manager dismissed effective Nov. 7 filed a whistle-blower’s lawsuit against the health department last week.
And the Medicaid fraud inquiry? It continues, according to the AG’s Office.
‘Credible allegation’
Mirin is a graduate of the University of Paris who moved to the United States in 1997 and formed his company in Roswell in 2005.
According to his bid proposal to the health department, New Mexico Psychiatric Services furnishes psychiatrists, psychologists and other staff for the Eastern New Mexico Medical Center in Roswell and the Chaves County Detention Center.
Only the company’s bills involving the Human Services Department appear to be on the AG’s radar.
Last Feb. 20, the Medical Assistance Division of the Human Services Department informed Mirin in a letter that “there is a credible allegation of fraud for which an investigation is pending.”
HSD told Mirin it was suspending Medicaid payments to the company “effective immediately.” Court records show Mirin fought back in state District Court, hiring a lawyer to seek more information about the inquiry and demanding an administrative hearing. The court action also contends HSD is violating the Inspection of Public Records Act.
The HSD provided “the vaguest of explanations regarding the allegations,” according to one motion filed by Mirin’s attorney.
The Human Services Department told Mirin in a letter last March that the agency is barred from disclosing the specific nature of the allegations.
However, the letter states, “The allegation involves activities over the past six years (or less) involving Medicaid services (behavioral health- psychological) and improper practices (billing, coding and record keeping) and the possible use of deception to obtain an unauthorized benefit from the Medical program.”
Mirin disclosed to the health department nearly a year ago that the “potential problem with Medicaid billing” involved one of his physicians, according to Vigil, of the DOH.
Asked who that physician was, Mirin told the Journal through his attorney that he didn’t know.
Even though Medicaid payments were suspended in February, an error on the part of the state allowed New Mexico Psychiatric Services to keep receiving payments up until last fall.
In a Sept. 28, 2012, letter, OptumHealth New Mexico, which processes Medicaid payments for HSD, said its staff had just become aware of the problem. But the letter also told Mirin “you did not call to our attention that you were continuing to receive payments.”
Mirin’s attorney told the Journal last week, “Dr. Mirin was not told by either Optum or HSD to stop taking care of patients or to stop billing for the services of his providers. NMPS billed for the services because it provided the services in accordance with its contract. NMPS believes that it will eventually be paid for the services provided.” He said that, since the suspension Oct. 1, the firm is still providing services to central and southern New Mexico Medicaid recipients even though it is not being paid by OptumHealth.
Vigil said the Department of Health’s request for proposals for psychiatric services didn’t ask bidders whether they were under investigation.
But he added that the contract with New Mexico Psychiatric Services “does have provisions that would allow us to terminate it.”
‘Needle in a haystack’
Troy Jones, the administrator at the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute, was one of three evaluators who considered the qualifications of the companies vying for the state psychiatric services work, according to state records.
Finding psychiatrists to fill in on an as-needed basis is like looking for a “needle in a haystack,” Jones said in an interview Dec. 14. “There’s such a shortage, not only in New Mexico, but throughout the nation.”
Jones told the Journal he wasn’t aware of the Medicaid fraud investigation involving New Mexico Psychiatric Services at the time the company was being evaluated last spring.
Mirin and his attorney told the Journal the disclosure was made “before the RFP process” to “the administration of DOH.”
Vigil’s email said his agency doesn’t have enough information about the Medicaid fraud inquiry to take action on the New Mexico Psychiatric Services contract.
While HSD officials were consulted about the matter, he said, the Department of Health hasn’t talked with the AG’s Office.
Coming Monday: New Mexico Psychiatric Services’ care of residents at the state’s facility for mentally ill and violent adolescents has come under fire in a former employee’s whistle-blower lawsuit.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal
Any thoughts, comments or ideas? Share the below.
The contracts between the Department of Health and New Mexico Psychiatric Services signed last summer permit the company to bill up to $623,900 to provide on-call or temporary services to state-run health facilities.
They include the Sequoyah Adolescent Treatment Center in Albuquerque, a 36-bed residential treatment center for violent and mentally ill youth.
At the time the contacts were awarded last year, the company was facing allegations of Medicaid billing fraud at the state Human Services Department. Its payments for services for HSD have been suspended pending the outcome of the inquiry.
A top health department official said in an interview last month that he didn’t know New Mexico Psychiatric Services was under investigation at the time he helped evaluate proposals for the so-called “locum tenens” psychiatric services last April.
But in a follow-up response last week, the agency’s spokesman said others in the agency did know and the inquiry by the state Attorney General’s Office wasn’t a “determinative” factor.
DOH spokesman Kenny C. Vigil told the Journal that the president of New Mexico Psychiatric Services, Dr. Babak Mirin, made a “self disclosure” about the investigation before any contracts were signed last year.
Asked whom Mirin had informed at the DOH and when, Vigil responded: “I don’t have that information.”
The Department of Health and the Human Services Department are separate state agencies, albeit with some overlapping missions involving assistance to New Mexicans.
The Human Services Department, which administers behavioral health services, notified New Mexico Psychiatric Services nearly a year ago of the billing fraud inquiry by the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Mirin’s attorney, David H. Johnson, told the Journal in an email last week that the company has been cooperating with the AG’s investigation “and is committed to the repayment of any overpayments that it may have received.
“At this point there has only been an allegation of billing fraud,” Johnson’s email stated. “Fraud has not been established.”
The Department of Health selected New Mexico Psychiatric Services, along with six other companies last May, to provide services as needed.
In the rankings, NMPS came out second highest in the cost category, with hourly fees as much as $250 an
hour. It was ranked second lowest in experience by DOH evaluators, but was the only company headquartered in New Mexico and tied with two other firms for first place in availability of staff.
All seven firms that submitted proposals were approved to provide services and each state health department facility got to decide which firm to hire.
But New Mexico Psychiatric Services came away with most of the business, signing contracts to serve inpatients at three state health department facilities: Sequoyah; the New Mexico Rehabilitation Center, which provides inpatient and substance abuse treatment in Roswell; and the state psychiatric hospital, New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas.
Three other psychiatric services firms received smaller contracts from health department facilities, according to the state Sunshine Portal.
Within weeks of his firm being awarded the contract at Sequoyah last July, Mirin was named interim medical director there after a shake-up in the center’s leadership.
Five of the center’s employees have since either left, been reassigned or been terminated. One 14-year-manager dismissed effective Nov. 7 filed a whistle-blower’s lawsuit against the health department last week.
And the Medicaid fraud inquiry? It continues, according to the AG’s Office.
‘Credible allegation’
Mirin is a graduate of the University of Paris who moved to the United States in 1997 and formed his company in Roswell in 2005.
According to his bid proposal to the health department, New Mexico Psychiatric Services furnishes psychiatrists, psychologists and other staff for the Eastern New Mexico Medical Center in Roswell and the Chaves County Detention Center.
Only the company’s bills involving the Human Services Department appear to be on the AG’s radar.
Last Feb. 20, the Medical Assistance Division of the Human Services Department informed Mirin in a letter that “there is a credible allegation of fraud for which an investigation is pending.”
HSD told Mirin it was suspending Medicaid payments to the company “effective immediately.” Court records show Mirin fought back in state District Court, hiring a lawyer to seek more information about the inquiry and demanding an administrative hearing. The court action also contends HSD is violating the Inspection of Public Records Act.
The HSD provided “the vaguest of explanations regarding the allegations,” according to one motion filed by Mirin’s attorney.
The Human Services Department told Mirin in a letter last March that the agency is barred from disclosing the specific nature of the allegations.
However, the letter states, “The allegation involves activities over the past six years (or less) involving Medicaid services (behavioral health- psychological) and improper practices (billing, coding and record keeping) and the possible use of deception to obtain an unauthorized benefit from the Medical program.”
Mirin disclosed to the health department nearly a year ago that the “potential problem with Medicaid billing” involved one of his physicians, according to Vigil, of the DOH.
Asked who that physician was, Mirin told the Journal through his attorney that he didn’t know.
Even though Medicaid payments were suspended in February, an error on the part of the state allowed New Mexico Psychiatric Services to keep receiving payments up until last fall.
In a Sept. 28, 2012, letter, OptumHealth New Mexico, which processes Medicaid payments for HSD, said its staff had just become aware of the problem. But the letter also told Mirin “you did not call to our attention that you were continuing to receive payments.”
Mirin’s attorney told the Journal last week, “Dr. Mirin was not told by either Optum or HSD to stop taking care of patients or to stop billing for the services of his providers. NMPS billed for the services because it provided the services in accordance with its contract. NMPS believes that it will eventually be paid for the services provided.” He said that, since the suspension Oct. 1, the firm is still providing services to central and southern New Mexico Medicaid recipients even though it is not being paid by OptumHealth.
Vigil said the Department of Health’s request for proposals for psychiatric services didn’t ask bidders whether they were under investigation.
But he added that the contract with New Mexico Psychiatric Services “does have provisions that would allow us to terminate it.”
‘Needle in a haystack’
Troy Jones, the administrator at the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute, was one of three evaluators who considered the qualifications of the companies vying for the state psychiatric services work, according to state records.
Finding psychiatrists to fill in on an as-needed basis is like looking for a “needle in a haystack,” Jones said in an interview Dec. 14. “There’s such a shortage, not only in New Mexico, but throughout the nation.”
Jones told the Journal he wasn’t aware of the Medicaid fraud investigation involving New Mexico Psychiatric Services at the time the company was being evaluated last spring.
Mirin and his attorney told the Journal the disclosure was made “before the RFP process” to “the administration of DOH.”
Vigil’s email said his agency doesn’t have enough information about the Medicaid fraud inquiry to take action on the New Mexico Psychiatric Services contract.
While HSD officials were consulted about the matter, he said, the Department of Health hasn’t talked with the AG’s Office.
Coming Monday: New Mexico Psychiatric Services’ care of residents at the state’s facility for mentally ill and violent adolescents has come under fire in a former employee’s whistle-blower lawsuit.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal
Any thoughts, comments or ideas? Share the below.
shameful!
ReplyDeleteMakes you wonder who Dr. Mirin knows in the governor's office.
ReplyDeleteI have said it once and I will tell you again. Brad McGrath is the person that brought him in. I was in several meetings at the NMRC where a decision was made to bring in Mirin's group. A small contract was written and he was paid less than $50,000 from March thru July. Dr. Mirin agreed to this knowing he was going to get his foot in the door. He was then promised by Brad he would be awarded the RFP. The Director of Finance at the NMRC can confirm this but probably would lose her job.
DeleteYour story is heard and believed but it is powerless until someone can say it openly or prove it. Call an attorney or the author of the articles!!
DeleteGood job Johnathan on giving this issue coverage. This site and its bloggers familiar with the situation were probably responsible for the Journal writing this article. Does anyone know who the top ranking official was that said they were unaware of the ongoing HSD investigation? I say it was probably Magrath. If so, just another reason he should not be made DOH Secretary. I wonder what Jim Green's and Bernice Gonzalez's roles were in the contracts process, just saying.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at Mirin's contracts posted on this blog, you will see that Brad McGrath signed the latest of Mirin's contracts on the very day he became acting secretary. Of all the things Brad had to do that day, getting more money for his longtime associate Dr. Mirin must have been a high priority.
DeleteThat means that the contract was already prepared prior to that day, one would think. That is why the question is, what role did the head of Santa Fe Contract section play in getting this contract through OGC and DFA approved.
DeleteThe guy gets that much money for working less than 10 hours a week. Id say his ties are direct to the governors office.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good beginning of an inquiry into all this corruption... there is alot more to it than this though... Hope this reporter is committed to further investigation?
ReplyDeleteAs the article stated, this is the first of a two-part - read tomorrows Albuquerque Journal.
DeleteLea needs to stop being so desperate, find another job already damn it!
DeleteThis isn't about a JOB. It is about INTEGRITY, ETHICS, and DOING THE RIGHT THING! Which are values familiar to Lea, but obviously foreign to others.
DeletePlease please let the DD Waiver be next!!!! You'd be surprised at the big money involved in providing services to people with developmental disabilities. You'd be surprised at what HSD and DOH would do to cover up their misdeeds.
DeleteLea should have managed better than she did. She never had it in her to get rid of people that should have been gone. All the problem that were happening were never addressed until now. Look at the stats that show kids successfully discharged and back in the system immediately. This has been the cases for years! She needed a dose of reality. As a manager she should have conducted herself professionally and made decisions accordingly.
DeleteWow, Babak, now you are blaming Lea for the mental health recidivism of SATC clients?? You sure attribute ALOT of power to her!
DeleteI wonder if the federal prisons will allow a psychiatrist convicted of medicaid fraud to have access to this blog site to comment? LOL
DeleteDisturbing but not surprising. DOH seems very corrupt.
ReplyDeleteYea-it makes sense that a corrupt agency would award a large contract to a corrupt psychiatrist.
DeleteIs this the same psychiatrist that ordered the staff to hold down kids so he could give them an injection to sedate them?
ReplyDeleteThe one and only (hopefully).
DeleteDr. Mirin has caused a lot of problems at New Mexico Rehab Center too.
ReplyDeleteDr. Mirin wasn't hired just to "fill in" on a temporary basis. Our staff psychiatrist (paid less than $150k per year) was run out so Dr. Mirin could come in at almost FIVE times the pay! Then -because he has so little experience working with SATC's special population, he implemented procedural changes that resulted in sanctions by licensing. Anyone who questioned it was fired (particularly female staff). I understand he has messed up New Mexico Rehab since taking over that. Why has the governor given this much power to this psychiatrist? Could it be because he is a friend to her chief of staff, Keith Gardner?
ReplyDeleteIf psychiatrists are so hard to come by that the state ends up paying $2K per day to a possible crook, you would think the state would work with UNM to recruit psychiatric residents to fill in. Goodness gracious!
ReplyDeleteDon't believe Dr. Mirin when he claims ignorance about which of his psychiatrists was involved in the Medicaid fraud. He rules with a heavy hand, and my guess is he was responsible for all of the billing. After all, he is all about the money. Even if he was an unwitting participant, NMPS is his agency- he is president- and he is responsible. My guess is the fraud perpetrator is none other than him. His arrogance ("I am untouchable" - as he told SATC staff) would support such malfeasance, but his hubris will undoubtedly be his downfall.
ReplyDeleteWhere is he anyway?? Owes Me $$$$$$$$$$$$$
DeleteSequoyah, Rehab, State Hospital, Sunrise, or one of his private offices..... or at Brad McGrath's having a beer and toasting his good fortune!
DeleteSo Mirin's attorney says he is "cooperating" with the investigation, right? But he filed a lawsuit against HSD? In what world does that constitute "cooperation"? Must be the alternative universe that exsists at SATC in which Mirin is working to "improve" the program, while in everyone elses reality, he is destroying it.
ReplyDeleteSo, Mirin pays his lawyers to sue the state with the money that the state pays him?
DeleteBig difference between being investigated for "overpayments" and fraud. They probably wish they were being investigated for overpayments.
ReplyDeleteOh my! Another lawsuit! Isn't doh gonna get the message soon? How much money is being spent by doh on these cases? How many have been filed? 4? 5? 6? Maybe the media needs to tell people about this other waste of their tax dollars!
ReplyDeleteMirin us not an affordable improvement to Sequoyah! He's a businessman and his company is a corporation. Bring back our old psychiatrist who was a man of worth and worked seven says a week. Somethings rotten to be sure.
ReplyDeleteSo, the state awards a lucrative contract to a psychiatrist (substandard at that) who has stolen state money. The taxpapers should be mad as hell!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine the governor would actually appoint Brad McGrath as permanent Secretary of Health after this! That will make her look really bad!
ReplyDeleteI would like to encourage former state employees or their friends to express their outrage via Letter to the Editor of the Albuquerque Journal. Since current employees have had their first amendment rights violated by the state, we can't formally comment. Continued attention to the issues raised in this story can't help but force change. Please write or encourage your friends to write. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely - very important to do!
DeleteAlso call or write your state legislators
DeleteIn addition to being all about the money, Dr. Mirin abuses, disrespects, and threatens employees. He has done this both at NMRC and SATC. I don't know why such behavior is tolerated by DOH or the governor.
ReplyDeleteDr. Mirin has had employees fired (female employees)!
DeleteOne of the reasons Lea was fired was for failing to make sure an incident was reported. She knew about it and did nothing, her claims of how she handled it are bogus, inaccurate, and can be disputed a 100%.
DeleteSounds like management wrote the above. I thought such matters were confidential. Show your unprofessionalism, Anita or Kathy Lucero.
DeleteYou mean, one of the "trumped up" reasons Lea was fired was because.....
DeleteWe know all too well what it means when Dr. Mirin feels challenged by a female staff when they simply ask him to justify why he had staff restrain a kid to give him an injection of Haldol. He then targets them for dismissal, and openly discusses his chosen targets with staff. DOH - I didn't know a contract psychiatrist could hire or fire!
I think Dr. Mirin will soon discover that he is not "untouchable" (as he previously described himself to several SATC employees).
ReplyDeleteGet over it Lea there is life after you and you 100% replaceable. What pisses me off is that things start to get better at SATC (as far as staff not being influenced or carrying a crappy additude) then you pull this mess n create another hostile work environment AGAIN!!!! If Dr Mirin or whatever doctor after Crumley would have been under the fire just as an excuse for your lack of responsibility as Director. Im glad your gone n it looks like im not the only one who's happy!!!
ReplyDeleteIm not sticking up for any doctor Im just so sick of my co workers not knowing whats gonna happen n if our jobs are ok... because of your childish acts this is your fault ot was only a matter of time before you bit off to much you can chew. When staff lose there jobs for being involved with your sobbing party the sad thing is your not.gonna help them after they lose there jobs im sure they families are you gonna support them??? I dont think so... MOVE ON N LEAVE SATC ALONE!!!! Were moving on to better things it may take awhile but were headed that way!
You say that your sick of your co-workers not knowing what's going to happen and if your jobs are ok, this is not because of Lea's "childish acts" which are not childish and are VERY real! This is at no fault of Lea, it is at the fault of the Administrator who allowed corrupt Psychiatrist into SATC to not improve the program but to destroy the program! Your co-workers are worried about their jobs for good reason because they too know that if they speak up about anything and not do what they are told (no matter how incorrect it is)they WILL be fired! This "hostile" work environment that we are in is because our Administrator has created it and only "thrives" in it! Lea was a responsible Director and obviously you did not know her and are clearly one of the Administrators "sheep"!!!
DeleteThings are not better at SATC and wont be until there is new leadership
DeleteThings have NOT started to get better here at SATC, we as staff are afraid to let anyone know we are unhappy with the things/changes that are allowed to go on here, we are afraid to speak up and afraid of bringing anything up to anyone now because we will get in trouble. We are allowed to have a voice but we dare not use it because it will be used against us. SATC is "moving on" but we are heading in the wrong direction!
DeleteAs I read through all of these comments, this one sticks out. Why I ask myself? I read it three times when I realized you are not a disgruntled line staff concerned they might lose their job due to your agreement with or even as an innocent bystander. You are an Administrator of some sort with a personal agenda to make money and push your career forward no matter who gets hurt in your path. We continuously lose sight of what is really at stake here.
DeleteOn one hand you have a Director who was fired who is being blamed for SATC being in such terrible shape, but I am very unclear of what was so horrible when she was in charge, before she was told shut her mouth and follow directives whether they were ethical or not. On the other hand you have a new team of psychiatrists, specifically Mirin because he is the one in charge, who have taken over SATC due to the accusation that Dr. Crumely was “over medicating” the kids in treatment. So since Crumely and Lea are gone, by no choice of their’ own, SATC has been under investigation and been issued multiple LCA’s since Crumely has been gone, with the new Psychiatrists on board. Somehow I find it hard to believe that Lea was behind this and was able to contain herself for 14 years of her employment before causing any of these LCA’s. So if the pattern does not look simple to you in this field of work, then what are you doing working at SATC in the first place? (Rhetorical)
That brings me to why this stuck out so much. We all take this job for the youth we serve, or we just don’t last. I can take a wild guess as to who posted this message… My first guess is Brenda, second guess Anita
Your child is in SATC, you worry about your child’s safety and well-being continuously, and you probably lose sleep over it. You know your child needs the help that this treatment centers mission statement has committed to render. You find out your child was not protected against harm whether it be from self or others. You know your child cannot help them self, that is why they are there. This child has been let down, neglected, abused, and at the very worst SATC has created an environment for this child to never get better. The primary function is safety of your Residents, if they are safe, the staff are safe, and that makes your environment safe.
You forgot why you are in this field… For the Residents.
Many things are different at SATC in the last few months. Weather or not it is because of things Lea did or not, let me remind you.
DeleteWe had a 3:1 staff ratio, and often 4 staff to a lodge. Even when the hiring freeze was in effect. Now what is the ratio?
We had team work. Not to say there were not problems, but teams worked together to help kids. We all knew what we were working towards and how we were supposed to get there. Now the rules change from day to day. The agenda changes. Rumors abound. People throw each other under the bus to try to look good or out of fear.
Now we have all kinds of outside agencies looking over our shoulders. Who all has been here-- CYFD, PNA, Joint Commission, Optum? Am I missing any?
When there were problems or staff shortages, there were always people ready and willing to come in and help. Even on their days off. Across departments. We worked hard to keep each other safe. Now? We call in sick as much as we can get away with, we refuse overtime, we don't answer our phones on our days off. We are all burned out.
Staff safety was a very close second to resident safety. We had spit nets. Someone listened to our thoughts. We had ratio. People were trained. Now? I think it is clear from the choices made my admin that staff safety does not matter. Refreshements for residents serve on silver platters does.
We had FOUR lodge managers! And for that matter, people were interviewed by the teams for promotions, not chosen in secret.
I worked with Lea for years. Sure, she made mistakes and she didn't please every one all the time, but I know her heart was in the right place. She tried her best to make SATC better for kids and for staff.
This discussion should not be about Lea anyway. It is about what has happened to SATC and what will happen to it now. I for one am glad that Lea was willing to say what the rest of us were too afraid to say. It is up to us what happens from here. Are we going to roll over and let them destroy what is left our our relationships and our program? Or will we continue to speak the truth so that we can continue to help our kids?
This wasn't Anita or Brenda. They are manipulative, ambitious, mean women, but they are not stupid. Only Dr. Mirin would think anyone would believe the problems at sequoyah are because of Lea. A swing and a miss, Babak.
Delete"missing the good old days" You could not have said that any clearer...You are now my new hero!
DeleteI am happy Lea is gone too!! Let me tell you why-- Mirin no longer has free rein to make staff restrain kids for no reason. Kids are not given shots just to shut them up. Sequoyah has been forced to stick to its mission somewhat, and the most violent kids are not just kicked out. Many, many things are still not right, but Lea did her best. I like the many of us who signed the memo (of our own free will!!) have still not had all of our concerns addressed, and the changes that did happen, happened as a direct result of what Lea did-- not thanks to anything Anita, Brenda, Kathy, Mirin, Louie Trujillo, or anyone else who could make changes did. Yep, I am glad Lea is gone too, because if she was still here these things would probably still be happening!
DeleteAnd PS- I commend the staff who did sign the memo and have stuck to it. You are the true heros!
But Lea should not have had to lose her job to stop the atrocities that were happening there. It was a perfect storm of an incompetent administrator (Westbrook), and an arrogant, but ignorant psychiatrist (Mirin).
DeleteTalk about incompitant, Lea was truly the incompitant and how did she even manage to get her position in the first place? She partied with her staff and did things unprofessionally. She relies on media and Facebook friends to get her complaints out!
DeleteBefore you complain about Lea being "incompitant", you might learn how to spell correctly.
DeleteLea relied on the law to get her complaints out, as it is illegal to fire an employee for reporting bad practices. The other things needed were integrity, honesty, and courage.
DeleteLea got her position from working hard, starting as a milieu staff. She is smart, organized, believed in the program (what the program once was before Mirin and Anita damaged it), and was always looking out for the residents and her staff.
DeleteShe was very incompetent, I agree! We are happy to see her gone! Lea is waisting time because her emotions have got the best of her. Her friend Amy was just as incompetent as she was and now gone too. Whoever Hired them must have been under the influence!
DeleteAgain, learn how to spell before you call others incompetent, or accuse them of "waisting" time.
DeleteIf you want to witness real incompetence check out some of the new managers and the lackeys that kiss their a***ses. No one asks competent staff that have been there for years or accumulated the education and experience for their valued input anymore.
DeleteI am glad you can spell my friend. However, that doesn't make you a competent person! You are just a wounded person like Lea. If you work at Seqouyah you should find another job. Maybe you would appreciate it more. Perhaps, you just aren't that competent to find one.
DeleteThank you for the advice dr. mirin but I think you will need another job before I will.
DeleteLea didnt work hard at getting where she WAS.... Lea was totally unprofessional partying with staff, talking crap about her own techs, using her position as a tool against male staff... not to mention how many of them she slept with! Ive workes here for a long time and ive seen it all with her! Dont you have friends outside of SATC????? OBVIOUSLY NOT.... start an account with e harmony :) n move on!!
DeleteIf/when you are improperly terminated by Anita, will you blame Lea for that?
DeleteWOW! It sounds as if someone is angry and trying to divert attention away from what the true problem is! obviously you have no spine because if all of these allegations you are making were true why would you not report all of this? I see that you are a true person of virtue! Run along now and continue to graze in the pasture with the rest of the sheep!
DeleteIt's funny how you say Lea was unprofessional for partying with the employee's that worked under her because I know a certain new evening/weekend manager who too also was hanging out with staff at a bar for one of their birthdays....
DeleteThe current SATC administration is comprised of short-sighted and self-promoting individuals. They should not be responsible for vulnerable children!
ReplyDeleteWhat is wrong with this state? Why are these horrible things being allowed to happen and who is the person putting all these horrible people in charge of vulnerable kids? Has all the concerns and problems fallen on deaf ears up in Santa Fe or do they just not care? I for one am ashamed of how corrupt this state has become!
DeleteAccording to the article, Mirin was still billing Medicaid after told he was being investigated for fraudulent billing to Medicaid? Isn't that "double-fraud"? What did Mirin think it meant to be suspended as a Medicaid provider? Really? Is it stupidity or hubris?
ReplyDeleteThis is simply unbelievable and unacceptable!
DeleteCan't wait for the media to continue digging into HOW Mirin got his contracts and the dummy corporation he created to get it!
ReplyDeleteDr. Mirin is STILL billing Medicaid and receiving payments! Wake up State of New Mexico!
ReplyDeleteI thought dr mirin was suspended from medicaid? Why is he still billing and getting paid? Isnt that continued fraud?
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