Tampa, Fla.-based Oglethorpe — an operator of psychiatric hospitals — and three of its executives agreed to pay $32 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by failing to return Medicare overpayments tied to psychiatric admissions at three Ohio facilities.
The settlement resolves allegations against Oglethorpe, founder and principal owner Robert Cohen, CEO John Picciano and COO James O’Shea. According to allegations detailed in a May 27 Justice Department release, from 2021 through the present, the defendants knowingly failed to return overpayments identified by the company’s consultants.
The overpayments involved beneficiaries admitted to Middle Point, Ohio-based Ridgeview Behavioral Hospital, Georgetown (Ohio) Behavioral Hospital and Columbus, Ohio-based The Woods at Parkside who allegedly did not qualify for inpatient psychiatric care.
The defendants also agreed to enter a voluntary exclusion agreement with HHS’ Office of Inspector General, excluding them from Medicare, Medicaid and all federal healthcare programs for a decade, effective July 2026.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by former Oglethorpe employees in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
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