Landmark Recovery’s former employees filed a class action lawsuit of not being paid overtime and being forced to clock out for breaks they never took. Landmark struggled to produce payroll and timekeeping data. The mediation was scheduled for May 15th, but Landmark asked the mediator to cancel the mediation.
The law firm is now going back to the judge and will ask that CEO Matthew Boyle, President Clifford Boyle, and Chief People Officer AJ Henry be added to the lawsuit as individual defendants. If they are allowed to add them as individual defendants, they will each be held liable for the unpaid wages damages. Since we know that Landmark doesn’t like to pay bills, vendors, or lawsuits, will this fall mainly on AJ?
Typical Landmark, making things harder than they need to be.
I am hearing that employees at Praxis of the Firelands by Landmark Recovery haven’t been paid in three weeks. Apparently, employees were told they would be paid in full today. Earlier today, I was informed that employees at Landmark Recovery of Knoxville hadn’t been paid in three weeks. Any employee who hasn’t been paid needs to contact the Department of Labor and file a complaint.
Today, employees contacted me and advised me they have not been paid for the past 21 days they have worked. Anybody who has not been paid needs to file a complaint with the Department of Labor. Since Harmony is operating this facility under Landmark Recovery’s license and HR took over as of May 1st, this is an LR issue.
I was informed that staff needs to download all of the patient records because LR is cutting off access to the Electronic Medical Records EMR system. Staff will need to chart patients via paper. LR claimed that they would stop admitting patients, but a new patient was admitted yesterday.
What could possibly go wrong? Patients charts not getting updated? Will patients’ files be leaked and seen by other patients? Hello HIPAA violation.
Maybe Landmark should change its mission statement to, “To make a million bad decisions.”
I received a tip today that Landmark inadvertently admitted Medicaid patients who didn’t have the proper type of Medicaid insurance. Approximately ten recent admits are being discharged with nowhere to go. The patients have been at LR for less than five days. They are in the middle of detoxing. One potential female admit was sitting outside in a wheelchair while staff tried to determine who would foot the bill for her Uber.
How does LR admit people with improper insurance? Was this a mistake or a colossal screwup? It remains to be seen.
Sources have informed me that there was a traffic accident involving an employee. The transportation patient engagement specialist (TPES) was transporting a pregnant female at the time. One source stated the TPES refused to submit to a drug test. Both sources advised me that the TPES hasn’t returned to LR since the accident. LR is currently attempting to fill the position. One source advised me that multiple patients complained about the TPES’ driving and refused to be transported by him. Yet, he kept his job.
There are no security cameras monitoring the hallway or windows at this facility. The windows open fully and patients can come and go as they please. Both of my sources stated this was a direct order from Matty Boyle. Landmark has agreed to be in compliance in Indiana and supply biweekly reports, yet in other states, Landmark doesn’t.
Landmark admitted their first local patient. This facility was 100% Tribal. LR attempted to get a Medicaid contract. I guess they got it. This is not going to work out well. The number of issues and calls for service will drastically increase. This has happened at several LR facilities. I hope I am wrong.
LR has entered into an agreement with DMHA, a division of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. This will allow LR to apply for certification to reopen Bluffton and Carmel. LR will need to submit biweekly reports showing that LR is keeping up with the standard of Indiana’s codes and safety practices.
Imagine my surprise when several people from the Indianapolis facility advised me that LR is operating with low staff counts. LR let half of the nursing staff go. LR used this facility to demonstrate how they turned things around and are willing to comply with the regulations. If the DMHA heard this, would they reject LR’s application? Nicole Carter is the Executive Director for this location.
This demonstrates how LR continues to put patient safety at risk and ignores the rules and regulations. I hope this is brought to DMHA’s attention, that an inspection is conducted, and that LR loses the certification process.
I am being told Landmark is reopening Praxis of Fort Wayne by LR in May. LR is planning on reopening Praxis of Carmel by LR in November. Apparently Matty claims LR will have all of their medical contracts back.
Here is the full text from Matty’s email:
Team,
It is with great joy that I can announce we have reached a settlement agreement with Indiana’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA) concerning the revocation of our licensure last summer. We have been cleared to reapply immediately for licensure at our locations in Bluffton and Carmel. Assuming we reopen these buildings and demonstrate compliance with Indiana’s regulations, we will be able to reapply for licensure at Mishawaka one year from today.
Many of you know we have been in discussions with DMHA since last December. I would be remiss not to mention that these discussions commenced after DMHA’s surprise visit to IND last September. The department took note of the monumental changes we had made as an organization in the changes we had made as an organization in the wake of the events at Mishawaka, and were incredibly pleased with the level of care provided by Nicole Carter and the team at IND. That survey gave us an audience to outline in detail all of the changes we made last fall to improve safety, staffing, and patient care. DMHA was further pleased with our presentation last December, and we quickly reached terms to reopen within the state. The delay since then is related both to DMHA’s political commitments during the Indiana legislative session, which ran from January to March, and internal debate at DMHA over if and how we should issue a press release concerning the reopenings. Ultimately, we mutually agreed not to make a statement to the press or external parties, although we remain free to discuss both internally and to external referral partners.
It has been an arduous year. We have shrunk considerably, both at the Facility Support Center and in terms of the number of facilities we operate. While this has been painful, it has been necessary to achieve a sustainable company that can operate profitably, grow slowly, and continue our mission to save a million lives in the next hundred years. We save a million lives in the next hundred years. We have cut our central overhead by 75%, which allows us to breakeven at 75% occupancy. We have shifted from a business that aimed to achieve 50/50 balance between commercial insurance and Medicaid to one that primarily focuses on Medicaid. I believe that is where the mission is, as that population is severely underserved. It also allows more predictable census at lower marketing spend. We have abandoned a strategy of rapid expansion for a more sustainable business plan of opening 4-5 great facilities per year. The net of these decisions is to remove substantial financial pressure and allow us to operate sustainably in the long term. We have shrunk to grow back better.
I understand many of us have sacrificed quite a bit to get to this point. It has been bumpy, and I cannot say the bumps are over yet, but the future is bright. DEN has been a bright spot, maintaining a wait list for the patients they can safely serve. They have made great strides in hiring and should be able to expand sometime in the next 30-45 days. PLIT has obtained Medicaid contracts and will be able to start seeing more patients in May. The Business Development Team has made great strides in April, winning back key accounts in Kentucky and Ohio winning back key accounts in Kentucky and Ohio and seeing a notable increase in census at those facilities. As a result of these victories, our outlook as a company remains stronger than ever, and I expect you will notice a difference come June. It has been a long and painful road, but, as a result of your hard work and dedication, it will have been worth it.
In terms of Indiana, we expect to get our licenses within 30 days, and then to obtain payer contracts $60-90$ days after that. Our plan is to reopen PFWA sometime around Labor Day, and then to reopen PIND around Thanksgiving. We also have two buildings to open in the Columbus area, another building in Colorado Springs, and one in Pittsburgh. We will pace ourselves and open responsibly, with timing determined by what the organization can handle, rather than forcing the organization to handle a preconceived opening pace. Beyond these buildings, any future expansion will be considered carefully, focused on growing density within states we know well and limiting entrance to new states. We do not have to be the biggest, but we will be the best.
Above all else, I want you to know I see you, and I appreciate you. Keep your heads held high. Be proud of the impact you have on our patients day after day. I am proud to have the privilege to lead this organization. It has not been easy, but the payoff is nearly here, and the mission is alive and well. I could not have gotten here without you, and for that I am forever grateful. May you celebrate this victory with your teams tomorrow, and let’s have a great Friday!
Landmark reached a deal with the state of Indiana to surrender its right to appeal the state’s revocations. Landmark can apply for new certificates to operate Praxis Treatment of Fort Wayne by LR and Praxis of Carmel by LR. Landmark has to wait a year before applying for Mishawaka’s certification. The agreement limits the census to 32 beds. If LR wants to increase the limit, they have to submit evidence they have hired the equate number of staff to accommodate the requested count. In order to have over 100 patients, LR has to demonstrate they have a full-time onsite physician. These facilities can only accept Medicaid.
Another interesting item is LR advised about a change of ownership regarding the LR of Indianapolis facility. One person commented that Cliffy is attempting to sell his stake in the company. Cliffy is making keeping Matty on as CEO as a part of the agreement.
As some people know, a class action lawsuit was filed by employees over wages. The complaint is employees were forced to clock out for meal breaks while working through the breaks. There is a complaint that employees worked overtime and weren’t paid for it. LR has initiated a mediation process with the 600+ employees involved in the suit. The lawsuit covers Patient Engagement Specialists (PES), Patient Navigators (PN), Nurses, and Directors of Nurses (DON). The mediation process started either this or the following week.
With LR’s track record of not paying bills, will LR pay when a settlement is reached? Time will tell.
I did a Google search for Matthew Boyle Landmark (redacted), and stupid Google pulled the wrong image for the featured snippet. I reached out to Matthew, whose image was being displayed. He advised me that he has repeatedly asked LR to remove him from the website. He is not the only former employee still on the website. Dr. Jason Kirby, Justin Hartman, and H. Chris Kang are on the website. LR no longer employs four of the six people listed on the Meet the Team page. LOL
This isn’t the only page that LR had neglected to update. LR has three closed locations listed on their locations page. They have two locations that are closing down at the end of month still listed on the website.
Perhapes LR shouldn’t have fired their marketing team or outsourced it. It does demonstrate how nobody is steering the ghost ship.
