The Wolf of Western Medicine

Does The Wolf of Western Medicine Exisit-  How Safe is Your Local Nursing Home?

 

Could a Wolf of Wall street-type be present in the nursing home world? The owners of Prohealth partners d/b/a Practitioner Support Services, LLP based out of Monroe, CT maybe living the dream once had by Jordan Belfort to ruin lives and make some serious cash.

Previous employees of Prohealth state the company has been known to bill insurance companies, mostly Medicare/Medicaid, around $800,000 a month. After receiving a tip regarding a whistleblower case, it appears that money is more important than the life of little old granny at the retirement home. As hard to believe as it appears, the good guy could finish last, Mr. D'Onofrio has taken the role of David in this story of David vs. Goliath, if Goliath had a huge checkbook and legal team:

A Westport Connecticut Family Nurse Practitioner (NP) has brought a $3,000,000.00 claim under the Connecticut Whistleblower statute against his former employer, ProHealth Partners, LLC d/b/a Practitioner Support Services, LLP. Mr. Louis D'Onofrio was essentially terminated from his position as a skilled nursing home advanced practicing registered nurse (APRN) after he reported serious wrongdoings at a Fairfield County nursing home to the Connecticut (CT) Department of Public Health (DPH) investigation team.

Nurse Practitioner, D'Onofrio suspected a life threatening change in condition of a patient while taking call coverage of a Fairfield county based nursing facility and gave a telephone order to immediately transfer the patient to Norwalk Hospital to be evaluated and treated. The nursing home's Director of nursing illegally countermanded the orders, which delayed life saving measures. Mr. D'Onofrio stated, "This particular facility is very reluctant in referring their patients out for hospital care because of the resulting loss of revenue. My concern is always the safety and health of my patients, not the bottom line on some financial statement." Despite the delay in treatment, the patient was transferred to the hospital on a different day, however ultimately died.

Nurse Practitioner, D'Onofrio was employed by Prohealth Partners who contracted with the nursing facility to provide a nurse practitioner under a collaborative agreement with the medical directors.  The nursing director at this Fairfield county based facility was upset with Mr. D'Onofrio when the state was informed and began investigation of the matter, and communicated displeasure to David Vincent Penry and Rose Pryor, the owners of Prohealth Partners, Practitioner Support Services and numerous other phantom like companies based out of 324 Elm St. Suite 202B Monroe, CT. [1,2,3] David Vincent Penry and Rose Pryor and their companies where also recently named as defendants in two lawsuits alleging the wrongful death of patients. [4][5]   

Within 3 days of Mr. D'Onofrio reporting this breach in the standard of care to the CT DPH, the Nurse Practitioner was placed on per diem status and informed there will no longer be work offered to Mr. D'Onofrio. Mr. D'Onofrio is represented by Attorney Thomas Thornberry of Stratford, CT. Attorney Thornberry stated, "The Connecticut whistleblower laws passed by the legislature to protect employees from unscrupulous employers who seek to discipline their employees who do the right thing. Mr. D'Onofrio had a moral and professional duty to report this incident to the authorities. The statue provides for punitive damages to prevent this type conduct in the future. We are seeking damages for lost wages and punitive damages of $3,000.000.00."

Attorney Thornberry has also raised company fraud allegations, as Mr. David Vincent Penry and Mrs. Rose Pryor falsely advertised and told the Nurse practitioner employees that they are "partners". Mr. Penry is looking more like the Wolf of Western Medicine, than a caring nurse, as he sold shares of his company and possibly gave buyout shares to a select few "partners" prior to multiple lawsuits [6].  The company ownership allude to employees becoming "partners" on their website by stating, "interested in becoming a Prohealth Partner" and "meet a partner" tab with photos of the entire NP staff. The website was disabled after the whistleblower lawsuit was filed [7].

Mr. Penry has also attempted to sell his concept of nursing home providers by franchising Prohealth and calling the franchising company PSqaured [8]. Mr. Penry has multiple companies in Connecticut, and in other states. Examples of Penry's property and companies out of state include, but not limited to, Morgan Realty Capital, LLC [9], 1071 Bimini, LLC, and Penry Management Services, LLC based out of Florida [10].

 

[1] http://www.ishcc.org/CT/Monroe/luminous-holdings-llc-2

[2] http://www.connecticutcorps.com/corp/469927.html

[3] http://www.connecticutcorps.com/corp/614337.html

[4] http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/CaseDetail/PublicCaseDetail.aspx?DocketNo=FBTCV166054688S

[5] http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/CaseDetail/PublicCaseDetail.aspx?DocketNo=FSTCV166027861S

[6] http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/balance-point-capital-acquires-practitioner-support-services-llc-dba-prohealth-partners-300218908.html

[7] http://beprohealth.com/aboutus.html

[8] http://www.franchiseherald.com/articles/2460/20120918/psquared-offers-franchise-opportunity-outsourced-skilled-nursing.htm

[9] https://www.corporationwiki.com/p/2eh5rx/morgan-realty-capital-llc

[10] http://www.bizapedia.com/people/FLORIDA/DAVID-PENRY.html