AG: Adult Care Home Owner Falsified Documents
Posted on Friday, 16 of May , 2008 at 5:55 pm
MILTON, FLA– The owner and operator of an adult family care home in Milton, Santa Rose County in Florida’ Panhandle, was arrested on charges that she falsified crucial documents pertaining to the safety of her facility.Paula Jo McAlexander allegedly forged fire inspection reports and presented the fraudulent documents to investigators with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit during a spot check at her facility. She was arrested by law enforcement officers with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the state Attorney General’s office conducted a spot check in September 2007 on the Paula Jo McAlexander Adult Family Care Home in Milton. Investigators on the premises confirmed that building permits were never acquired for a new addition to the facility and that no fire inspection had been conducted since the new addition was constructed. Although McAlexander presented fire inspection reports, she admitted they had been falsified.
The investigation revealed that McAlexander, knowing her license renewal was largely based on annual fire inspection reports, forged the necessary documentation so that she could appear to be in compliance. Investigators with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit determined that McAlexander, 56, was able to continue operating her adult family care home even though an addition to her facility had been built without permits and was in violation of numerous building codes. The local fire inspector reported observing numerous hazardous defects, anticipated structural failings, storage conditions that created a fire hazard and dangerous electrical conditions.
McAlexander had been billing the Medicaid program for at least five years as though in full compliance with local, state and federal law. Meanwhile, she was housing her residents in the uninspected new addition to the home. The Agency for Health Care Administration issued an Emergency Suspension Order shutting down the facility, citing conditions existing at the facility as a direct and immediate threat to the health, safety or welfare of the residents.
McAlexander has been booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail. She is charged with five counts of elder neglect, three counts of Medicaid fraud, five counts of forgery, and seven counts of uttering forged documents. If convicted, she could receive up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine per count.
McAlexander is also facing one count of organized scheme to defraud, a first-degree felony, for which she could receive up to 30 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The case will be prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office for the First Judicial Circuit.
The Attorney General’s Office regularly facilitates the random visitation of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and group homes by local and state authorities to ensure compliance with health, building and fire code enforcement. Spot checks also include representatives from the Department of Health and the Agency for Health Care Administration, local fire inspectors and code enforcement officers, and the State Ombudsman from the Department of Elder Affairs. 5-16-08
Category: Business, Courts, Crime, Disabled, Elder Care, Family, Florida, Government, Health
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