Covenant law suit dismissal sought

Nov. 7 -- The man who filed a whistleblower lawsuit accusing Covenant Healthcare Systems Inc. of Medicare fraud is seeking to dismiss the suit.

Plaintiff James Szymczak said he did not think he could sustain the claims on behalf of the United States, since the government declined to intervene in the case.

Whistleblower lawsuit accuses Covenant Healthcare of Medicare fraud

Oct. 17, 2005 -- Covenant Healthcare Systems Inc. violated federal Medicare laws by filing false claims, according to a whistleblower lawsuit filed in Federal Court.

The health care concern, which operates St. Joseph, St. Francis, Elmbrook and and St. Michael Hospitals, as well as Marian Franciscan Center, The Terrace at St. Francis and Franciscan Woods nursing homes.

The suit alleges that St. Francis Hospital staff members illegally conspired to keep a woman hospitalized there until she could be transferred to a Covenant nursing home. The woman was kept in the hospital even though she did not require hospital care, the suit said.

"Subsequently, the defendant presented claims and was paid for the false claims presented to the Medicare program for services that were never rendered and fraudulent and medically unnecessary services," the suit said.

An investigation by the state Department of Health and Family Services found that "the defendant admitted one out of three residents to their facility, The Terrace at St. Francis for alleged short term placement without proper legal authority," the suit said.

In whistleblower suits, the U.S. attorney's office can intervene on behalf of the plaintiff. In this case, the U.S. attorney's office declined to do so.

Read the lawsuit and the feds' response.