A former executive at MetroHealth Medical Center has been indicted by a federal grand jury. For Ohio Public Radio, WCPN’s Nick Castele reports the charges include racketeering and conspiracy to commit bribery.
The indictment alleges that Dr. Edward Hills gave MetroHealth dentists inflated bonuses and allowed them to work additional part-time jobs, in exchange for cash and such gifts as a TV and Louis Vuitton briefcase. Three other dentists were also indicted in the case.
Hills directed MetroHealth Dental, and also served as the hospital’s chief operating officer from 2010 to 2014 and interim CEO in parts of 2012 and 2013.
The indictment also alleges that Hills sent dental residents to work at private dental clinics run by his codefendants, while those residents were being paid by MetroHealth.
U.S. Attorney Carole Rendon says, “Hills also referred Medicaid patients to those dental clinics when those Medicaid patients could have been and should have been treated at MetroHealth.’
Additionally, the three dentists are accused of soliciting bribes from dental residents.
MetroHealth CEO Akram Boutros, who took over in the county-run public-hospital system in mid-2013, said in a message to employees that he was “sad and disheartened” by the charges.
An attorney for Hills hasn’t yet returned a request for comment.
