The management team of a DeWitt, Iowa-based care facility for developmentally disabled patients has been fired in the midst of a Medicaid fraud investigation.
The Iowa Department of Human Services says it came to an agreement with CommunityCare after an investigation found "a credible allegation of fraud" in Community Care'sMedicaid billing, the Quad-City Times reported Saturday.
Officials did not offer details on the alleged fraud, and it's not known whether criminal charges have or will be filed.
Community Care offers programs and services in nine eastern Iowa counties for those with developmental disabilities, mental illness and brain injury. It has 340 adult clients who receive benefits from the Medicaid waivers program and has more than 400 employees, according to Dave Pillers, vice president and incoming president of Community Care's board.
"We have a competent and dedicated staff," Pillers told the newspaper. Employees were informed Thursday of the situation, he said.
Fired were chief executive Bill Bonnes, chief operating officer Angela Ganzer-Bovitz and several others, Pillers said. Community Care hired a replacement team of managers from the Columbus Group in King of Prussia, Pa.
Phone numbers for Bonnes and Ganzer-Bovitz were not available Saturday.
A search warrant for the Community Care premises was executed Oct. 8, said Amy McCoy, spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Human Services. In addition to agreeing to bring in a new management firm, Community Care is taking a temporary 35 percent suspension of its Medicaid reimbursements and agreed to hire a cost report preparation firm to re-examine its Medicaid financial reports, McCoy said.
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