Employees at UCLA's Olive View Hospital Investigated for Accepting Kickbacks
June 03, 2010
A social worker and two case workers at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar, Calif., are being investigated by Los Angeles County officials in response to allegations that they accepted gifts from nursing home operators in exchange for discharging Medicare and Medi-Cal patients to their facilities, according to a report by the LA Times.
County officials were tipped off through a call to a hotline in November. The three staff members allegedly accepted gifts including gift cards, gift baskets, a designer handbag and tickets to Cirque du Soleil. Three Los Angeles nursing homes — Valley Manor Convalescent Hospital, Valley Palms Care Center and Sun Air Convalescent Hospital — are accused of providing the gifts, according to the report.
An investigation has been opened by LA County's Department of Health Services. The actions could also violate state and federal kickback statutes, but it appears neither the state or federal government has yet begun an investigation into these incidents.
Read the LA Times' report on the Olive View kickback allegations.
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