Telecare Corp.’s drug and alcohol program was supposed to be the “cream of the crop,” an important part of the much-heralded Be Well campus in Orange serving as a one-stop shop for mental health and substance abuse services for the poor and vulnerable.
But Telecare ended up quietly closing at the site after the discovery that staffers who did not meet Medi-Cal certification were servicing clients from at least July 2021 to February 2022. Moreover, the San Francisco-based company improperly attempted to bill Medi-Cal for the services, as first reported by the Voice of OC online news site.
Telecare also failed to fully provide services or follow up with hundreds of clients as required by the county contract.
Now, the treatment rooms, bedrooms and even a living room with an outdoor patio once staffed by Telecare have been empty for more than six months amid a massive oversight failure that has triggered a restructuring of Be Well’s entire operation.
A review by the Orange County Health Care Agency dated February 2022 said, “Telecare has continued to allow staff who are not properly credentialed to deliver Medi-Cal covered services and has claimed Medi-Cal reimbursement in reliance of those services. This practice is viewed as fraudulent.”
That review was not initially disclosed to law enforcement, the public or even to the full Board of Supervisors, and only recently came to light in published news reports.
‘Black eye’ for Be Well
Barbara Delgleize, a former Huntington Beach City Council member and early supporter of the Be Well project, said she was not pleased with the way the operation has begun.
“If somebody is not doing the right things or doing the right (qualifications) … that’s not going to work. It’s just going to bring a black eye to Be Well OC,” Delgleize said. “To have a Telecare situation and not have qualified people — yeah, I’m upset.”
Leigh White, an advocate for the unhoused in Fullerton, also said she was…
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