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County's ambulance company facing FBI investigation PDF

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Vol. 16, No. 35 Nov. 17-23, 2011 50 cents ConstruCtion delays The Independent Voice of Southeast Texas Convention center months behind schedule emergency Page 12 A Campaign kiCk-off Eddins camp raises funds on rainy day Page 20 A Cris quinn’s legaCy New indoor soccer facility now open County’s ambulance company Page 8 A facing FBI investigation Page 6 A 2 A Nov. 17-23, 2011 The Examiner Nov. 17-23, 2011 The Examiner 3 A When You SAVE on These Runs Deep BUICK You Get All These FREE Highway 96 - Silsbee just South of WalMart 385-5221 Silsbee www.cowboyauto.com Receive these 3 gifts when you purchase a new GM vehicle between November 17 and December 25, 2011 See store for complete details. 4 A Nov. 17-23, 2011 The Examiner THE EXAMINER Phone: (409) 832-1400 WILL YOUR BUSINESS BE A VICTIM? 795 Willow St., Beaumont, TX Fax: (409) 832-6222 77701 E-mail: [email protected] www.theexaminer.com Don J. Dodd, publisher and CEO [email protected]; (409) 832-1400, ext. 223 Employee theft will cost businesses billions of dollars this year. Have you taken steps to prevent these losses in your MANAGING Jerry Jordan — ext. 225 • [email protected] EDITOR business? You should. EDITORS Jennifer Johnson — ext. 231 • [email protected] Jennifer Trahan — ext. 222 • [email protected] Eliminate thievery by making simple changes in your busi- AND WRITERS Fred Davis — ext.227 • [email protected] ness’s physical layout. Move dumpsters and garbage cans away from places where employees can easily hide merchan- Michele Brooke • [email protected] Melanie Dishman • [email protected] dise for after-hours retrieval. Prohibit employees from carry- CONTRIBUTORS Albert Nolen • [email protected] Robert Sloan • [email protected] ing merchandise to where their coats Brenda Cannon Henley • [email protected] and bags are stored. SPORTS EDITOR Chad Cooper — ext. 241 • [email protected] Improve systematic safeguards. COPY EDITING Joshua Cobb — ext. 224 • [email protected] Keep accurate records of inventory. AND PAGE DESIGN Amber Vasquez — ext. 234 • [email protected] The Examiner is audited by: Make sure that the duty to review GRAPHICS Justin Rabb — ext. 228 • [email protected] invoices and the duty to pay them aren’t delegated to the same employ- Diane King — ext. 240 • [email protected] Joey Armstrong — ext. 229 • [email protected] ee. Reconcile transactions against SALES Taryn Sykes — ext. 245 • [email protected] Dana Craig Moore — ext. 237 • [email protected] your internal records and cancelled Felisha Davis — ext. 244 • [email protected] Any erroneous reflection upon the charac- checks. ter, standing or reputation of any person, firm RYAn C. HARKEY, CPA, CIRCULATION Donna Littrell — ext. 242 • [email protected] or corporation which may occur in the copy of Kirk Dickey — ext. 238 • [email protected] The Examiner will be gladly corrected upon IS A PARTnER AT being brought to the attention of the editor. POllAnS & COHEn P.C. Communicate with employees. BUSINESS Receivables: Taryn Sykes — ext. 232 • [email protected] Published Thursday, 52 weeks a year. ISSN Distribute a statement of company Web site/Business: Brent Morton — ext. 221 • [email protected] 1551-9198. The Examiner is published by The Examiner Corporation. Copyright 2011 The policy to employees to let them know what steps should be ARCHIVES Edna Hetzel — ext. 243 • [email protected] Examiner Corporation. All rights reserved. taken to guard against theft and what disciplinary actions the company will take against violators. On the Inside Who Is This? Install safeguards in your computer system. A few minutes of Vidor ISD loses students to tragedy ...................7A manipulating inventory records may be all that is needed for an employee to cover up thousands of dollars of backroom Quinn indoor soccer complex now open ............8A theft. The entry of false invoices can likewise cover up Family seeks help funding transplant ...............11A checks written to nonexisting vendors. The Bottom Line ...............................................21A Recruit honest people. Perform background checks of poten- Good as Gold Picks - Week 12 .........................22A tial employees before offering a job. These checks are impor- Lamar Loop .......................................................24A tant for professional and service firms, too, where the losses can be higher and more difficult to discover. Community Listings .........................................28A Your Life, Your Health .....................................30A For employees who handle large sums of money, consider fidelity bonds to protect you from losses. Use them in addi- News of the Weird ............................................35A tion to preventative measures, not as a substitute. Cirque du Soleil ..................................................4B Game Plan ...........................................................6B Finally, appropriate internal controls change as your business changes. In the Dark ..........................................................8B Scrooge the Musical .........................................10B Events ................................................................11B This week’s “Who Is This?” was born POLLANS & Out & About with Albert ..................................12B and raised in Beaumont — a “native Beaumontian,” she likes to say. But Letters that’s not to say that she isn’t worldly, COHEN, P.C. to the Editor having lived in San Antonio and Hous- ton; Okinawa, Japan; Kailua, Hawaii; We want to know what you’re thinking! We wel- and Stuttgart, Germany. Her first job was come snail-mail, emails and phone calls. Please, wrapping Christmas presents at Joske’s. Certified Public Accountants address your correspondence to Letters to the Edi- She’s a graduate of Forest Park High tor, 795 Willow, Beaumont, Texas, 77701, email School and Texas A&M University. 470 Orleans Street • Beaumont, TX 77701 [email protected], or call (409) 832-1400. As the Independent Voice of Southeast Texas, we look Answer on page 22 B (409) 832-7400 forward to continuing to provide the area with in- depth coverage of local news. Nov. 17-23, 2011 The Examiner 5 A presents BBeeaauummoonntt’’ss PPrreemmiieerree SShhooppppiinngg EExxppeerriieennccee Grand OpeninG discO unts Jewelry designed for texas exclusive alamea Benjamin cohen Jewelry all Occasions Hawaiian Titanium Wood Wedding Bands Designed by Catherine Taylor unique inspiring Gifts Jewelry repair engraving giFt wrapping Featuring: Amy Butler Bags • Citizen Watches Tokyo Bay Watches • Sterling Silver Jewelry One of a Kind Mosaic Glass Pieces Children’s Jewelry 250 Dowlen Road Phone: 409.860.4800 Beaumont, Texas77706 [email protected] 6 A Nov. 17-23, 2011 The Examiner County’s ambulance company facing FBI probe By Jerry Jordan them via a wheelchair van. He also Managing Editor said there are patients who are covered one week but become ineligible the A privately owned ambulance ser- next because their conditions have vice that serves as the contracted emer- improved. gency responder for rural areas of Jef- “There is actually a Medicare GY ferson County is facing an investiga- modifier; it’s kind of a joke – ‘good for tion by the FBI and other federal agen- you’ – that we put that GY modifier on cies over allegations of improper bill- there, and it tells Medicare right away, ing, improper patient transports and ‘Hey, don’t pay us for it. We know it’s possible Medicare fraud, according to not going to qualify,’” he said. information obtained by The Examiner. Fitzgerald said the reason he bills Cindy and Sean Fitzgerald, the own- Medicare but uses the modifier is so ers of Southeast Texas EMS, say they the company can have a paper trail are aware they are being looked at and should it be audited or investigated — have known their employees were something Southeast Texas EMS is questioned by the feds as far back as familiar with. Sept. 27. They say they have done Photo by Jerry Jordan Fitzgerald confirmed this was not the nothing wrong and believe the outcome Texas EMS medical personnel bring an elderly patient from a dialysis center first time the FBI or Medicare has taken of the investigation will reveal that. on Laurel Avenue to a home where several vehicles were parked in the drive- an interest in the company. He said the “We heard through ex-employees way, including a 2002 Ford Expedition bearing handicapped license plates. It first time was in 2003 and then again in that they have been interviewed by the is not known whether the patient is ambulatory. 2005. He said neither of those incidents FBI and questioned,” Sean Fitzgerald resulted in any issues or penalties. said. “But they haven’t come and talk- Inspector General showed, at that time, is nothing that needs to be changed Cutbacks and growth ed to us yet. … We are not out of Beaumont and Port Arthur accounted with how the company operates. bounds with anything. Some of the for 16 percent of all dialysis transports “We didn’t do this to become mil- Fitzgerald said several years ago issues that were brought up, I hope the in the state of Texas. Houston account- lionaires,” said Cindy Fitzgerald, “We Medicare drastically cut the rate that it investigators do their jobs to the fullest ed for 38 percent. Since then the num- are doing this because we care about reimbursed ambulance companies of their capabilities, because there has bers have increased. The study outlined our community. Period. We love what from about $688 per round trip to $396 been no wrongdoing.” issues involving illegal transports, we do.” per round trip. He said those cuts made The investigation, which was dis- kickbacks and private arrangement him realize that he needed to expand in Patient eligibility closed to the newspaper by multiple made between ambulance companies, order to survive. sources, is said to center around billing health care facilities and patients. The Fitzgeralds say they are limited “Once I realized the reduction in our for dialysis patients that are transported A year ago, the company that han- by federal patient privacy rules and industry in reimbursement, we had to in an ambulance when they are not dles all of Medicare’s billing contracts, can’t discuss individual patients. They get bigger,” Fitzgerald said. “We had medically qualified for that mode of TrailBlazer, issued a report naming the did say that some patients are trans- to make double the amount of calls to transportation. According to Medicare No. 1 issue in EMS patient transport as ported by their ambulances even maintain where you are at now. I rules, if a patient is ambulatory – mean- the unauthorized use of emergency though they don’t meet Medicare’s needed to grow. And in the present ing they can walk and are not bed-rid- ambulances to transport non-emergen- criteria – they are just transported for marketplace, who could I get with that den – they are not to be transported in cy patients. TrailBlazer also reported free. talent to help me grow?” an ambulance for dialysis care. Those that Texas ambulance companies were “We are not illegally transporting So he brought in someone with patients are to be transported in wheel- improperly paid more than $38 million dialysis patients,” Sean Fitzgerald said. experience in that area – Jason Boever, chair vans operated by the ambulance for transports that were not authorized. “Do all of them pay? No. Do we still a former partner in Goldstar EMS who company or by other means. When asked about the allegations transport? Yes. We don’t discontinue helped the company become the larg- “The reason they put ambulatory that Southeast Texas EMS was violat- unless they have completely recov- est ambulance company in Texas in patients in EMS units is because the ing the law with its transports, Sean ered. We are trying to service our cli- 2005. Boever now runs an ambulance difference in billing extreme,” said a Fitzgerald of Southeast Texas EMS ents and continue to meet their needs. company called MedQuest that is oper- source. “You can charge around $700 said some people develop a perception Just because Medicare doesn’t pay ating as an assumed name of Southeast for a transport in an EMS unit but you that something is wrong or illegal doesn’t mean we can’t take them. We Texas EMS. only get about $75 for patient trans- when that isn’t the case. are meeting the community’s needs.” The growth of Goldstar, coupled ports in a wheelchair van. This is a “Perception becomes one’s reality,” Fitzgerald said his company has with complaints by former employees, huge problem in the industry, and he said. “If someone who is not edu- about a 78 percent collection rate for caught the attention of the FBI, which Medicare has been cracking down all cated in the true aspects of running an private transports, and it’s even worse raided Goldstar’s Port Arthur offices in over the country. The government ambulance company then their per- with the 911 calls that Southeast Texas April 2005. At the time, the FBI’s 2004 recently raided several places in Dallas spective is something is amiss, and EMS responds to in the county. He study on patient transport seemed to and Houston and now they are focus- their perception becomes a reality even said there are some people who fall in point directly at Goldstar EMS, which ing on Beaumont.” if they perceive something incorrectly.” the cracks. Those patients may not was the primary medical transport A 2004 study of dialysis patient Fitzgerald said the company has had meet Medicare guidelines but he transports by the FBI and the Office of independent audits and been told there believes it’s too dangerous to transport See tranSport on page 7 a 18 W A HEELER CCIDENTS TEXAS Clay Dugas Hablamos Español 805 P • B board certified personal injury trial lawyer ARK EAUMONT . . 409-813-1111 WWW CLAYDUGAS COM Nov. 17-23, 2011 The Examiner 7 A TRANSPORT in a bind, but we are straightening that stuff TECL 28475 out. Basically, the complaint has hurt us. from page 6 A “They just came over to check us out and it delayed some of the funding. The employees company in Port Arthur and other areas of the will be straight in the next day or two.” state – aside from Houston – found to have excessive transports for dialysis patients. County reaction Federal authorities took out thousands of When asked about the impact of the investi- documents, copied computer hard drives and gation and any possible fallout, Jefferson questioned dozens of people as part of their County Judge Jeff Branick said he had just investigation, but charges were never filed and recently become aware of the situation but he Licensed • Bonded • Insured the case was dismissed after several years. was already taking measures to protect county “They notified us to come get our docu- residents. Residential • Commercial • Industrial ments, that they found no wrongdoing,” Boev- “I heard about it last night from (Jefferson er told The Examiner on Wednesday night. County Emergency Services Director) Greg - Residential & Commercial Electrical Repairs & Trouble Shooting “We had a zero-error rate, was their wording. Fountain,” Branick said. “He has already initi- - Industrial: TWIC, Insured, and able to work in all local plants “My opinion is the FBI will say the same ated discussions with other providers, and I - New Construction thing about Sean and his group. He runs an up- was going to research what our responsibilities - Remodels & Add-ons front and honest company, and nothing points are under the local government code. We have - Electrical Meter & Breaker Box Replacement to his doing anything improper.” already begun preliminary discussions in the - Parking Lot Lighting, Installation, and Maintenance But Goldstar had been cut off from the Trail- event there is a disruption. We are going to try - Electric Motor Controls Repair & Trouble Shooting Blazer payment system and the investigation to have a contingency plan in place should - Standby Generator Installation - Fiber Optic Installation, Termination, & Testing brought an end to the company. something happen that we lose them as our - Tele-Data Cable Installation, Termination, & Testing Prior to the raid, Goldstar ran into financial provider.” - Estimates Available Upon Request problems. Employee’s checks began bouncing Fitzgerald said he wasn’t sure what would and the company had trouble keeping up its happen when the FBI eventually comes in to employee medical coverage. talk with him. He said he is hopeful they will Now, similar issues are happening with look at his records and see there are no issues. Southeast Texas EMS. Fitzgerald has con- “I am not really concerned about the FBI or firmed his company has been having financial Medicare because I don’t think we have done troubles and blames some of it on the rumors anything wrong,” he said. “There are other circulating about the FBI investigation. issues out there with Nigerians coming in and 1640 Industrial Park Drive • Nederland, TX 77627 “We are going through a financial hiccup, if setting up fraudulent ambulance companies, you will,” he said. “The allegations of the FBI and I think that is what they should be looking investigations aren’t helping.” at. He said he uses a company to handle his “We have our response times in the county Give the billing in order to stabilize income from his down to 14 minutes and 58 seconds and we are receivables, and that company became worried able to do it for free. If we break even on the about its financial investment when it heard 911 side, then we are a success because of what Gift that about the FBI investigation. we have on the private sector.” “They sent an auditor over, and he went A Department of Justice spokesperson said back to say everything was fine and there was it is standard procedure for the FBI and Depart- no misconduct,” Fitzgerald said. “It was like a ment of Justice to neither confirm nor deny the Keeps on pre-audit until the other guys get here. It put us presence of an investigation. Vidor ISD loses students to tragedy Giving! By Jennifer Johnson they were traveling in left the injuries in the crash. Both were Orange County Editor roadway at a high rate of speed transported to St. Elizabeth and struck a tree on a Dew- Hospital in Cosmetic Procedures Fall 2011 has been devas- eyville road in Newton Beaumont where tating for the Vidor Indepen- County road during the late they remained dent School District. night hours between Satur- several days Botox • Restylane • Chemical Peels • Microdermabrasion Even as the small commu- day, Nov. 12, and Sunday, after the initial Laser Hair Removal • Cellulite Reduction nity continued to mourn Nov. 13. Both girls were incident. Both 18-year-old Vidor High foot- Vidor Junior High School survivors were Weight Loss Injections: ball player Matt students. Neither wearing seat- Thomas, who was was wearing a seat- belts. struck and killed by belt, troopers from Investigators B12 • HCG • L-Carnitine • Lipoden a train less than one the Texas Depart- have yet to Kirkland month ago, residents ment of Public determine what Discounts available for all new & current clients of the tight-knit com- safety wrote in the caused Watkins to lose control munity learned that fatality crash report. of the auto the four were trav- on weight loss and cosmetic procedures. two more teens were Two other teens eling in, and no criminal killed over the week- were also in the 1990s charges had been filed in rela- W L , C & eight oss osmetiC end. model truck when the tion to the crash as of press According to offi- accident occurred. The time. Toxicology reports are s C a Ross urgiCaL enters of meriCa cial reports, 13-year- driver, 19-year-old pending. old My’Kayla Ross and Elizabeth Watkins, and Funeral services for 409-212-8866 • 318 North 23rd St. • Beaumont 14-year-old Kristen Kirkland 18-year-old passenger Joseph www.wlcsca.com • facebook.com/weightlosscenters were killed when the vehicle Constantine suffered serious See VIDOR on page 15 A 8 A Nov. 17-23, 2011 The Examiner Quinn indoor soccer complex now open By Jerry Jordan Connor and Caitlin Quinn kick the first goals in during the Managing Editor opening ceremony for the new indoor soccer facility named in honor of their late father. It may have taken more than a year to complete, but there likely isn’t a more fitting tribute to the legacy of Cris Quinn than the newly opened Cris Quinn Indoor Soccer Facility. The new facility, located on the Beaumont Youth Soccer Club (BYSC) complex, held its grand opening Monday. It’s the same location where the late Quinn could be found fre- quently mowing the grass and tending to the dozens of soc- cer fields for kids of all ages. “This is a culmination of everything Cris started,” said Glen Morgan, who along with Wayne Reaud, The Beaumont Foundation, the Cris Quinn Girls from the Kelly High School team practice their skills. Foundation and others helped to fund the state-of-the-art ity that stands up to any in this in Beaumont is astronomi- facility. “He would have done Houston, Dallas or Austin, and cal in terms of the youth soc- this sooner or later and it is it’s great to teach the kids cer world. It’s huge for this just a culmination of every- technique. For the real dedi- area. Even in England you thing he started out here. cated players, it will be a place don’t get facilities like this. “The thing is that he wasn’t where they can practice and “My conception of soccer Supporters just a soccer enthusiast; he train year-round regardless of for youth here is the way they cheer as was a kid enthusiast, and he the weather. And again, the progress and this is basically a they see went out to different areas and indoor soccer game is credited step up for college and getting the soccer helped different kids with dif- with being a great method of scholarships. This will facility for ferent things. This is just one developing skills because of enhance the opportunities they the first measure of the kind of work the nature of the game.” will get whether it is playing time. that Cris started, and it is our Those sentiments were for Lamar or playing for a small attempt at trying to con- shared by Thomas Shenton, club elsewhere at a different Photos by tinue his legacy in doing those Jerry Jordan who came to America university.” kinds of things.” from England and is The facility is open Morgan said land for the now the BYSC’s head for free-play for the new indoor soccer facility was trainer. remainder of the contributed in the form of a “When you com- week and schedules long-term lease by the drain- “It really is amazing,” project through to completion. pare it to other areas will be implemented age district, and the electrical Quinn said. “This was the first He said playing indoors will and other clubs I have for skills training, work was done by the IBEW day that I have actually seen it help young soccer players never seen where you games and other Local 479. and I couldn’t believe how learn different aspects of the have fields as good as activities throughout Becky Quinn, who watched large and beautiful it is. It’s game and improve their tech- those outside linked the weeks ahead. two of her children kick the going to be a great place. He niques, which could help them to a facility indoors as There is already a Cris Quinn first goals at the new facility, would be very happy.” gain soccer scholarships in the good as this, usually 12-week training pro- said it’s beyond anything she The new facility is unlike future. they are separate,” Shenton gram in the works, and Shen- had imagined and is a fitting any between Houston and “It is a great opportunity for said. “So for the BYSC and ton said he hopes to see more tribute to her late husband’s Baton Rouge, according to the community and the kids,” the Spindletop Youth Soccer kids utilize the new indoor legacy. John Werner, who saw the he said. “It is a first class facil- League to have a facility like facility. BasketB all season nov-mar. 4 0 9 - 8 8 0 -1 7 1 5 | L a m a r Ca r d i n aL s .C o m Nov. 17-23, 2011 The Examiner 9 A 10 A Nov. 17-23, 2011 The Examiner Families share pain and joy in Wall of Heroes dedication By Fred Davis er who, in addition to helping donors posed for a picture in Staff Writer run the jewelry business, also front of the walls and some worked as a welder and morti- were even joined by the nurse Three years ago on Oct. 28, cian and as anything else that who took care of their loved Payton Manzingo, then 16, was needed. one. was on the phone with her “He loved to joke,” said “We as nurses get very father, Noel, and the two were Payton, who is following in attached to our patients,” said discussing their plans for the her father’s footsteps by Mary Eagan, chief nurse exec- evening. He was working at attending school to become a utive of the Christus Hospital the family’s jewelry store in mortician. The Manzingos, system’s Southeast Texas Jasper, and his plan was to along with 11 other families, region. take his daughter to the Cedar shared their stories and tears According to Christus, Christus-St. Elizabeth Priest Joe Mundadan blesses the Wall Tree restaurant. She was on Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 15, at when a patient loses brain of Heroes while others look on Tuesday at the hospital. her way to meet him at the Christus St. Elizabeth in Beau- reflexes and is pronounced store. mont as the brain dead, the hos- it makes. And when you speak “I call it a gift from God; Just a few minutes later, hospital dedi- pital contacts South- to the family about the organ honestly, I don’t know how I 37-year-old Manzingo stepped cated its Wall west Transplant donations, I think the photos do it. Basically I just walk in outside – and dropped dead. of Heroes to Alliance, which then hanging up are really going to their holy ground,” said Sein- “We hadn’t been off the those who, like Manzingo, discusses the option of organ make a big difference. You’ve sheimer, who worked with phone 15 minutes,” said Pay- donated their organs to others. donation with the patient’s got different cultures, different Fedro Gatlin’s family among ton. A brain aneurism took the “The greatest thing we can next of kin. In the event the age groups, races, and both many others in the 10 years life of the outwardly healthy do is to help other people,” patient is an organ donor, the males and females.” she’s been approaching fami- Manzingo and stunned his said Father Joe Mundadan, consent is already obtained. Nine patients have had their lies about organ donation. family, especially his mother, who blessed the recently paint- After consent, the Southwest organs donated this year. “I talk to families about Gloria, a former city council- ed murals on the walls of the Transplant Alliance matches For Gabe Hernandez and the kind of person they were, woman who was working at second and sixth floors of the organs with patients in need. Gina Seinsheimer, both of and were they a loving, giv- the jewelry store that day, as ICUs with prayers and holy “I really think the wall has whom work for Southwest ing person. Were he to see well. She said she walked out- water. The murals, which were made a difference,” said Kathy Transplant Alliance, they have someone drowning or see side and saw her son lying on painted by students from Rodgers, director of trauma at the task of talking to the fami- someone on the street that the ground. Memorial and Port Neches- Christus St. Elizabeth. lies and asking during a very was needing help, or needing “I thought he was playing a Groves, were selected from a “Because people are in the difficult time if they would CPR, would he have been the joke,” said Gloria, as Noel had total of 40 submitted designs. waiting areas and they’re look- like to donate their loved one’s See DONOR on page 14 A a reputation as a practical jok- Families and friends of the 12 ing at it, seeing the impact that organs. irs problems? Was your business hit We can help! hard by the hurricanes? Southeast Texas Tax Consulting We can help. J. 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237 • [email protected]. Felisha Davis from page 10 A. Family members of Fedro Gatlin gather at the Wall of Heroes miracles happen.
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