Healthcare Compliance Perspective:
Public officials must maintain integrity for our healthcare system to work. Likewise, an effective Compliance and Ethics Program must consider the possibility of deception and recklessness from all sources, both internal and external, both private and public.
A former long-term care ombudsman, who supposedly was helping an elderly nursing home resident, recently admitted she was guilty of committing five felonies including financial exploitation to the elderly, theft and three counts of public contractor misconduct. The woman says that she stole at least $14,000 from a resident to pay for her own cancer treatments. The state indictments state that between February and April 2015, she stole between $5,000 and $50,000.
The woman was employed as an ombudsman on a contract basis by an Illinois Department of Aging Contractor-Senior Services Associates. Her primary duty as an ombudsman was to advocate for county long-term care residents. A complaint in May 2015 initiated an investigation by state police who were able to identify some suspicious transactions from the resident’s bank account including a $15,000 wire transfer and a cashed check for $4,000.
The woman was arrested without incident after a grand jury indicted her. Her bail of $100,000 was revoked after she entered her guilty plea. Her trial had previously been set for March, but after accepting her plea, the county circuit court judge set her sentencing for March 22. She could receive probation or be sentenced to state prison for three to seven years.
