Assisted living facility owners, sisters arrested for cheating government

Jennifer Walker-Journey — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:32:45 +0000

Sisters Duanne Bewely, 36, and Fiona Nicolas, 38, worked as a team, running Faith Manor Vermont and Faith Manor Melrose assisted living facilities in south Florida. They marketed themselves as a fully licensed facility and won over the trust of physicians and clinic owners, who would refer patients to their homes. Those health care professionals now say they would have never put patients in the care of the sisters had they known they were lying and cheating the government.

Earlier this week the sisters were arrested and charged with a third-degree felony of one count of operating and/or maintaining an assisted living facility without a license. If convicted, the sisters each face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to All Headline News.

The arrests followed an investigation by law enforcement and Attorney General Bill McCollum’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The unit’s Patient Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (PANE) team also was involved in the investigation.

Earlier this year, the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration sent notices to each of the homes requiring the facilities to close. The women stand trial in the Judicial Curcuit Court on April 17th.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Assisted living facility owners, sisters arrested for cheating government

Physical therapist charged with unlicensed practice, forgery

Jennifer Walker-Journey — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:22:40 +0000

Brent P. Dellarma was a practicing physical therapist employed by Genesis Rehabilitation at Sandy River Center for Health Care in Farmington, Maine, for nearly a year between 2007 and 2008, until management suspected something was awry with his paperwork. The man had worked as a physical therapy assistant and then as a physical therapist at Sandy River Center. He had documentation filed with the Board of Examiners in Physical Therapy in the state’s Department of Professional and Financial regulation. However, an investigation found that the paperwork Dellarma filed was bogus and that he had misrepresented his qualifications, according to the Morning Sentinel.

When officials at Genesis Rehabilitation suspected Dellarma’s credentials were at fault, they immediately suspended him. Then they contacted the Department of Health, local authorities and the Attorney General’s office. Dellarma was later terminated by his employer.

Dellarma was arrested Friday and charged with aggravated forgery, a Class B felony, for allegedly filing a public document with a public office with the intent to defraud or deceive. Dellarma also was indicted on two counts of felony theft by deception and one count for unlicensed practice of physical therapy, a misdemeanor.

The Morning Sentinel quoted a statement released by Genesis Rehabilitation: “We take issues like this very seriously and are cooperating fully with the authorities as they handle this situation. This is an isolated incident and is not a reflection of the overall quality of care provided to our patients every day. We remain committed to providing a safe, nurturing environment for the patients in our care.”

There was no evidence that any patients were harmed or endangered. No other information about the case was released, and the case remains under investigation by the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Health Care Crimes Unit.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Physical therapist charged with unlicensed practice, forgery

Nursing Home Abuse » Medicaid Fraud Control

Assisted living facility owners, sisters arrested for cheating government

Physical therapist charged with unlicensed practice, forgery