Mental health leaders back in court

Jan. 28--CARLSBAD -- A continuance of preliminary examinations for three administrators of the former Carlsbad Mental Health Center was granted Wednesday morning in the Carlsbad Magistrate Court.

The continuance came as a result of the unavailability of Magistrate Judge Daniel Reyes, who is suffering from an injury.

The dates for the rescheduled hearings in the cases against Carlsbad Mental Health, Noel Clark, Darrill R. Woodfield and Michael Stoll have yet to be set.

Clark, Woodfield and Stoll, along with John Bain, were indicted by the New Mexico Attorney General's Office in June 2015 on charges of Medicaid fraud.

Each man was charged with eight counts of Medicaid fraud, one count of conspiracy and one count of fraud with non-Medicaid funds.

The fraud allegedly included over-billing, poor services and falsification of documents used to make claims.

Bain was bound over to district court in September by Magistrate Judge Henry Castaneda.

Attorney General Balderras said in a news release when the indictments were announced that his office was aggressively pursuing prosecution of health care providers who had taken advantage of the public trust.

The investigation into allegations of fraud which began in 2012 with a whistleblower from Carlsbad Medical Center expanded to include 15 other providers throughout the state.

Carlsbad Mental Health underwent a name and management change following the allegations of misconduct.

Golden Services and Presbyterian Medical Services took over the running of the mental health facility in April 2015, after the facility changed management several times, including Turquoise Health and Wellness, who pulled out of all of their operations in New Mexico.

Carlsbad has been working since then to find a solution for providing access for those in need of mental health services.

A Mental Health Task Force was formed by Mayor Dale Janway to find solutions, which include working with local organizations to help fill service gaps. Currently the focus is on establishing a facility to help rehabilitate mother's with addiction problems.

"As before, our concern is less with the specifics of these cases and much more with trying to make sure that mental health services are fully restored to Carlsbad and New Mexico citizen," said Mayor Dale Janway. "PMS and Golden Services have really stepped up to meet many of these needs. Jeff Diamond and Representative Cathrynn Brown are working very hard to try to get the Crossroads program back open in some fashion, but it is a huge challenge this year because the state budget is so limited."

On Tuesday, Eddy County Commissioners approved a letter of support for the establishment of a Crossroad's Facility which would help women and mothers suffering from addiction rehabilitate, an initiative which is being supported by Brown.

Jessica Onsurez can be reached at 575-628-5530.

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