Former Tenet Healthcare executive John Holland has been accused of paying bribes, enabling the enterprise to falsely bill Medicaid $400 million.
John Holland, a former senior vice president of Tenet Healthcare Corp, a U.S. hospital chain, faces charges related to paying bribes for patient referrals, enabling the enterprise to falsely bill Medicaid $400 million, and in turn lining executive pockets with millions. The charges brought against him are part of a whistleblower lawsuit that dates back almost a decade which was issued against Tenet, Holland and his fellow conspirators.
Holland, now 60 years old, began his career with Tenet Healthcare in 2000 as the Chief Executive of North Fulton Medical Center Inc. in Roswell, Georgia. From 2000 to 2013, Holland served as the company’s Senior Vice President of Operations for the southern region of the U.S. where Tenet operated. In October 2013, he moved into his seat as the Chief Executive Officer of the LHP Hospital Group in Plano, Texas. However, Holland was forced to step down from this position on January 24th in order to prepare his defense.
During his many years with the company, it is said that Holland participated in a plan to pay over $12 million in bribes to the owners of a firm which operated clinics in Georgia and South Carolina. These locations, licensed under the name Clinica de la Mama, provided prenatal care to expecting mothers, mostly illegal Hispanics. In exchange, clinicians would refer patients to Tenet hospitals for after birth and newborn care. This deal enabled Tenet to charge Medicaid and Medicare for services rendered.
In an effort to cover his tracks when filing these requests, Holland repeatedly falsified records, slipping these under the nose of Tenet’s accounting department. He also lied to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General about remaining in compliance with a 2006 agreement put into place as a result of an earlier settlement in the Southern District of Florida’s case No. 17-cr-20054, U.S. vs. Holland, and faces charges related to noncompliance. In doing so, Holland collected roughly $149 million in Medicaid and Medicare funds and continued to operate under false pretenses.
The executive was indicted in federal court in Miami and faces charges of four counts of healthcare fraud, mail fraud and major fraud against the United States. Prior to this, Tenet Healthcare Corp and two of its Atlanta based establishments, in a related case, reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve criminal charges and civil claims. They had been ordered to pay more than $514 million. Holland has pleaded not guilty.
Holland’s attorney, Richard Deane, said he felt the settlement against Tenet Healthcare as a whole should have finalized the issue. The Department should have not pursued charges against Holland separately. Both Deane and industry analysts say pursuing the individual executives in this case is highly usual. However, Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco says the Justice Department’s decision to pursue Holland is in line with its commitment to holding both businesses and individuals responsible for such crimes. Holland is the first of the executives to be indicted and faces charges similar to those that will inevitably be brought against his cohorts. Deane says his client is indeed innocent and a jury trial will prove this.
Sources:
Ex-Tenet Healthcare Executive Accused by U.S. of Fraud
Former Tenet executive to face criminal charges over bribery scheme that defrauded Medicaid
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