The Arts Welcoming Art Lovers With Disabilities; article

Bryce Vickmark for The New York Times

Annie Leist, left, a volunteer at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, guides Mercedes Austin, 17.

By TANYA MOHN; The New York Times ; Oct 25, 2013

ON a recent Friday night, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York held its first public exhibition of original art made in its “Seeing Through Drawing” classes. Participants — all blind or partly sighted — created works inspired by objects in the museum’s collection that were described to them by sighted instructors and that they were also allowed to touch.

In another gallery, a tour in American Sign Language was followed by a reception for deaf visitors. And on select Fridays, new “multisensory stations” invite all guests — including those with a range of disabilities — to experience exhibits though scent, touch, music and verbal imaging, or describing things for people with vision impairment.

“The Met has a long history of accessibility for people with disabilities,” said Rebecca McGinnis, who oversees access and community programs. As early as 1908, the museum provided a “rolling chair” for people with mobility issues, and in 1913 held talks for blind public school children, she said. Today, there are programs for people with disabilities nearly every day.

Such efforts by museums are likely to increase. In 2010, about 56.7 million people, or 18.7 percent of the population, had some level of disability, according to the Census Bureau. And both the number and percentage of disabled Americans are expected to increase in coming years because of the aging of the population, greater longevity and more cases of certain types of learning disabilities, said the Open Doors Organization, a nonprofit group in Chicago serving disabled people.

“Museum designers have used a great deal of imagination, much more than is required by law, and do remarkable things,” said Lex Frieden, a professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and director of one of the regional centers to help compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Mr. Frieden, whose spinal cord injury after a traffic crash in 1967 left him a quadriplegic, said museums made commitments to accessibility before the 1990 law and even earlier federal legislation. The Smithsonian Institution has long been a leader in the field; its definitive guidelines to accessible exhibition design are used globally, he said.

Early adaptations to overcome barriers to sight were mirrors on ceilings, video screens at varying heights and lowered pedestals and cases “to a sweet spot of visual field” for all users, including wheelchair users, said Beth Ziebarth, director of the Smithsonian’s accessibility program.

Innovations continue. A new program allows families with children on the autismspectrum and cognitive disabilities to arrive before opening hours and to receive materials in advance to get familiar with the building and exhibits.

In a crowdsourcing effort, the Smithsonian last year began inviting visitors to provide audio descriptions on mobile devices of the nearly 137 million objects in its collection — an example of how measures primarily to help people with disabilities can often benefit the public.

Similarly, when the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston opened its Art of the Americas wing a few years ago, it took a universal approach to its mobile multimedia guide. Hannah Goodwin, the manager of accessibility, said if a person with a vision or hearing disability is visiting the museum with a nondisabled friend, “you use the same devices, with access to the same content.”

In Manhattan, the Whitney recently introduced vlogs — video tour blogs — whose segments are recorded by deaf hosts in American Sign Language. But since they are also captioned in English, they have become popular even among people without hearing impairments.

“It’s a brave new world out there” said Larry Goldberg, director of the National Center for Accessible Media, a research and development department at WGBH in Boston. “There is such a range of new technology, and museums are taking advantage of it.”

For example, the Art Institute of Chicago plans to experiment with 3-D printing to reproduce artworks and allow visitors, like those with Alzheimer’s disease, to explore the texture, scale and other sensory elements of objects in ways not otherwise possible.

The Guggenheim’s mobile app includes closed-captioning for videos; enlarged-text capability, verbal description tours and advanced screen-reader technology that enables full navigation through touch and voiced description of everything on the screen.

Indoor navigational services are coming to museums, Mr. Goldberg said, that are ideal for people with visual impairments. For example, ByteLight software translates location signals from modified LED lights to smartphone apps to help visitors interpret exhibits or navigate within the museum.

The Museum of Science in Boston expects to broaden its testing of ByteLight technology in coming months. “For indoor location awareness technology, it is the most promising,” said Marc Check, the museum’s director of information and interactive technology. “Technologies like GPS are effective outside, but much less precise inside.”

The museum is also experimenting with interactive touch-screen technology. It has built a large touch table, like a giant iPad, that will give people with visual and fine motor skill limitations access to content by swiping and gesturing. A prototype, Mr. Check said, is expected to be in place at an exhibit in the next few months.

Smaller museums are offering services for the disabled, too. In the summer the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla., joined with local mental health agencies in a program for adults with mental health or substance abuse issues. The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh recently added nine newly acquired Rodin bronze sculptures to its touch tours. The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida conductsoff-site programs for residents of nursing homes and retirement centers who can’t visit the museum.

For exhibitions and performances at museums and other sites, the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., advises on things like assisted-listening systems or how to stage sensory-friendly productions. When Eric Lipp, executive director of Open Doors, wanted to improve accessibility at Chicago cultural institutions through its “Inclusive Arts and Culture Program” several years ago, he turned to the exchange.

Since then, the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago has enhanced its services and outreach. Live audio description and American Sign Language interpretation during performances have improved in quality and are offered at more performances. New services have been introduced, like touch tours that allow blind and low-vision guests to go on stage before shows to become familiar with the space.

The Steppenwolf and others “go above and beyond,” said Mr. Lipp, who is partly paralyzed. “And they’ve done it for no other reason except the social benefits.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/arts/artsspecial/welcoming-art-lovers-with-disabilities.html?_r=1&

Illinois rebalancing care for developmental disabilities; commentary by Michelle Saddler

Oct. 27, 2013 • By Michelle Saddler

Michelle Saddler is secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Before Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn took office, Illinois institutionalized more people than any other state in the nation. We are now changing under the direction of the governor to improve the quality of life for people with developmental disabilities in Illinois.

We are committed to rebalancing and improving Illinois' system of care for people with developmental disabilities. Evidence strongly suggests residents living in smaller homes have a better quality of life and participate more in their community. Moving individuals from large, outdated institutions to community settings also saves taxpayer dollars.

To be clear, a recent article regarding the operational costs of the Murray Developmental Center in Centralia was incomplete and deserves further clarification.

There are several ways to calculate the cost per resident in a state-operated developmental center. The first is a simple, straightforward calculation that divides the annual spending by the average number of residents. For the Murray Developmental Center, that puts the annual cost per resident at $143,217.

The other, more thorough and complete method is based on methodology and reimbursement rates used by the federal government. This method includes costs not included in an SODC budget but in the broader state budget, such as medication, retirement contributions, group insurance, worker's comp, union wages and facility improvements.

Under this more comprehensive and accurate calculation, the annual cost is about $239,934 per resident at Murray Center and about $120,000 in the community.

The article calls into question whether more money could be saved by cutting down the number of staff. But the reason the Illinois Department of Human Services is maintaining employee headcount during the closure process is to ensure a safe and secure transition for remaining residents.

So yes, the cost of operation under the simple calculation indeed increases as the closure process continues. However, that is a small and temporary price to pay to ensure a safe facility closure. And once the transition is complete, delivery of care will not only be more cost-efficient, it will also offer people with disabilities a higher quality of life and that's the point in the first place.

Michelle Saddler is secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services. The opinions are the writer's

For Illinois Dept of Human Services: http://www.dhs.state.il.us/

For Previous Posts on Murray Developmental Center: HERE CLICK

Lake County Illinois parents, lawmakers target dyslexia

October 25, 2013|By Kristy MacKaben, Special to the Chicago Tribune

Kathi Keane of Grayslake says she's been fighting for years to get help for her 10-year-old daughter Grace's dyslexia.

By the end of the third grade, Grace was placed on an individualized education

 plan, but Keane said the interventions didn't work.

"They didn't want to recognize the dyslexia problem," Keane said of her daughter, who's now in fifth grade.

Dyslexics struggle with the mechanics of language and are unable to make the connections needed to decode words, according to advocates.

Keane and a group of about 20 other local parents have joined a burgeoning national movement—Decoding Dyslexia—which launched last year in New Jersey and has spread to 38 states. The mission is to pass legislation to secure more services for dyslexia and raise awareness of the learning disability, and a few Illinois legislators have joined the cause.

State Rep. JoAnn Osmond, a Gurnee Republican, and state Rep. Patricia Bellock, a Westmont Republican, filed a bill Oct. 15 requiring public schools provide screenings for kindergarteners who exhibit signs of dyslexia.

"According to my bill, at this point, every child would be checked in kindergarten if there are indications they might be dyslexic," Osmond said, admitting she was unsure what funding would be needed to implement the programs required through the bill.

State Sen. Melinda Bush, a Grayslake Democrat, is expected to soon introduce a resolution declaring "Dyslexia Awareness Week" in Illinois.

In January, Bush said, she's also hoping to propose legislation to mandate school districts test students early for dyslexia.

"There's not enough being done. I think there is a problem and I think we can do a better job of identifying dyslexia," said Bush, explaining she wants to make sure she doesn't create an unfunded mandate. "The important piece is making sure there's early detection."

Parents of children with dyslexia say if kids do not receive services early enough, they could fall behind for the rest of their school career.

"Schools don't recognize dyslexia. I don't really understand it," said Angela Baronello of Antioch. "It's not recognized in the school education code, even though it's the most common learning disability."

School officials say, however, they cannot diagnose dyslexia, and they can't provide services unless students are found eligible in one of the 13 categories of learning disabilities in Illinois.

"Before students can receive services, they have to be found eligible," said Ann Scully, director of student services for Antioch Community Consolidated School District 34.

If students are found eligible, an individualized education plan is developed.

"You're looking at present level of functioning. Then you're looking at specific needs. You're looking at strengths and deficits," Scully said. "It's individualized and student-specific."

Baronello said that about 20 percent of people in the United States have dyslexia—a language processing disorder, but the disability is often misunderstood and services are lacking.

Though Lucas showed signs in preschool of dyslexia — speech delay, trouble learning letters, unhappy at school — he wasn't diagnosed until the end of first grade, his mother said. The Baronellos eventually sought out a neuropsychologist who determined Lucas was dyslexic.

"We were lucky his father and I were persistent. Many don't find out what is going on until third or fourth grade when they are so far behind the school can't ignore it anymore, or worse, they never find out," Baronello said.

The problem in Illinois, parents say, is dyslexia is not listed as a learning disability in the education code. Instead, dyslexia is included under "specific learning disability" for understanding and using language, said Elizabeth Hanselman, the assistant superintendent of specialized instruction, nutrition and wellness for the Illinois State Board of Education.

"It's not identified as a stand alone disability," Hanselman said. "It's already counted in the category of specific learning disability."

But parents want more.

Unless dyslexia is listed as a distinct learning disability, they say, it is difficult to get services for children who are dyslexic but high-functioning in other areas, which advocates say is often the case.

"Their brain is fully capable of learning. This is a very high-functioning brain," said Lisa Stankus, director of Road to Learning, a Lake Zurich-based tutoring service specializing in helping children with dyslexia.

Stankus, a special education teacher, started the tutoring program in 2005 for students at Quentin Road Christian School in Lake Zurich. Because of demand in the area, the program was opened up a year later.

"These are incredibly bright people who have contributed to society for many, many years, but there is often a delay in their response when it comes to language," Stankus said.

Dyslexic children are often gifted in other areas such as math, art or athletics, but have difficulty decoding language, advocates say.

"A lot of times students will take tests and they are 140 in math and 98 in reading and the schools will say they're average and that they don't need to provide anything," said Ben Shifrin, member of the executive board for the International Dyslexia Association. "It's very limited because it doesn't fall under a handicap. Some people don't believe in dyslexia."

A regular education program in reading will not be effective, so special services are needed, Shifrin said. Early intervention can make a huge difference because children can be given learning accommodations, often using technology, and, eventually, the children will learn to adapt, he said.

"It's not cheating," Shifrin said. "It's leveling the playing field."

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-25/news/ct-tl-grayslake-decoding-dyslexia-20131023_1_dyslexia-awareness-week-learning-disability-student-services

Illinois Murray Developmental Center's closure postponed, Court hearing Jan 6, 2014

Oct 25, 2013

CENTRALIA, IL. (AP) - (The closure of a southern Illinois center for the developmentally disabled has been indefinitely postponed.)

The decision comes eight months after a lawsuit was filed in federal court by the Murray Parents Association and others to block the closure. been indefinitely postponed.

Department of Human Services spokeswoman Januari Smith told the Associated Press that the closure of the Murray Developmental Center in Centralia is being rescheduled because of a pending court case

The closure is part of a plan to save the state money and provide community-based care for disabled people.

The group says the 250 Murray residents have severe disabilities that only an institution can handle. They dispute the state's claim that community care would save Illinois nearly $120,000 per year, per resident.

Court hearings begin Jan. 6 in Chicago.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

FOR PREVIOUS POSTS ON Murray Developmental Center:  CLICK HERE 

experiences of Voters with Disabilities in the 2012 Election - report by National Council on Disability (NCD)

The National Council on Disability (NCD) has released a new report on the experiences of voters with disabilities in the 2012 election cycle. 

From the National Council on Disability:

October 24, 2013, WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency, released a new report, “Experience of Voters with Disabilities in the 2012 Election Cycle,” to gauge the effectiveness of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The report was prepared in partnership with the National Disability Rights Network and EIN SOF Communications.

Enacted by Congress in 2002, HAVA sought to ensure that Americans with disabilities could vote independently and privately alongside their non-disabled peers. But has the law succeeded?

To answer that question, NCD gathered the experiences of nearly 900 voters with disabilities across the nation during the 2012 election cycle using an open-ended questionnaire which became the blueprint for the report. Experience of Voters with Disabilities also provides a comprehensive overview of how federal funds were used in an attempt to increase and insure voting access in the United States.

“The Experience of Voters with Disabilities report explores the physical barriers, attitudes, technological gaps, legislative hurdles, and polling place practices encountered by voters with disabilities in 2012,” said Jeff Rosen, NCD Chairperson. “By detailing how HAVA has improved voting access for Americans with disabilities in the past decade, we hope this report will be used to enhance civic participation in future elections and that our recommendations will be adopted by the Presidential Commission on Election Administration as part of its report which is scheduled to be released later this year.”

“People with disabilities make up approximately 1 in 5 of our nation’s population,” said Clyde Terry, Chair of NCD’s Policy Development & Program Evaluation Committee, “and yet 70% of polling places are still not accessible. A decade after the Help America Vote Act was signed into law meaningful action by election officials to guarantee the most fundamental right of all Americans – including those with disabilities – is not only warranted, it is long past overdue.”

KEY FINDINGS
Physical Barriers: Americans with disabilities continue to face barriers in exercising their right to vote privately and independently due to architectural and physical barriers at registration and polling sites.
· Nearly 40% of respondents to the NCD’s questionnaire encountered physical barriers at their polling places.

Technology: Voters with disabilities do not have equal access to voting systems because states and localities have not invested adequate resources, planning, and training to provide reliable, accessible voting technology.
· 45% of respondents reported barriers inside the polling place involving voting machines.

Discrimination: Voters with disabilities face discrimination at voter registration and polling sites resulting from poorly trained election personnel and volunteers.
· Nearly 54% of respondents encountered barriers, including attitudinal, inside the polling place. 20% of respondents said they were prevented from exercising a private and independent vote.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
Accountability: State and local election officials must comply with all accessibility provisions of HAVA, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other relevant voting rights and civil rights laws.

Access: States should upgrade and/or maintain voting equipment to assure fair, equal, and universal access for voters with disabilities.

Training: State and local election officials must invest in adequate training for all election personnel, staff and volunteers.

Adoption: The Presidential Commission on Election Administration should adopt the recommendations made in the Experiences of Voters with Disabilities report in their own report to the President later this year.

To download a free copy of the report, please visit NCD’s website at: http://www.ncd.gov.

For more information or to arrange for an interview with NCD members or staff, please contact NCD’s Public Affairs Specialist, Lawrence Carter-Long at LCarterLong@ncd.gov or by phone at 202-202-2112

ACT NOW! Are You Ready to Push the Disability Treaty Through to Success in the U.S. Senate?

please read an important message from the US International Council on Disability (USICD) 

Our opponents are sure ready! They continue to mislead about the treaty and its impact on parental rights and national sovereignty-- the very same scare tactics they used last year to defeat it by a very close 5 votes. We must --and we will-- win this next time around. Our chance is coming soon--and it could be our last chance for a long time.   Last week, Chairman Robert Menendez of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told a small group of community representatives that a hearing in Committee will occur soon!

We must be ready to push for the U.S. to ratify the treaty and everyone must help.

The Senate has previously passed a resolution for ratification that was clear: our national sovereignty and parental rights are not threatened by the treaty. But our opponents refuse to accept the reality. This is not only an insult to the bipartisan supporters for the treaty --including veterans Bob Dole and Tammy Duckworth-- but a disservice to the one billion people with disabilities in the world who look to the United States to lead global progress toward equality, dignity, and opportunity.

Together, amplifying our voices on the Hill and around the country, we are a powerful national movement for the Disability Treaty. Now we must prepare for the next push. So here is what I ask you to do now:

1.   Prepare your organization's letter of support to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Start fresh, or simply brush up the letter you sent last year. As soon as we know a hearing date, we will announce a Letter Blitz in support of the Disability Treaty. You must be ready to send!

Examples of letters other groups have sent can be found on our website (www.usicd.org) for your convenience that you can use to work from. You can also contact one of the members of the CRPD Ratification Coordination Team to support you in this effort. Eventually, all letters will be sent to the Senate Foreign Relations committee and can later be used in a 50-state action for the floor vote. We will send these letters when they will have the greatest impact.

2.   Sign and distribute the petition for ratification. Every individual should sign this and share the link with your friends, colleagues and communities. If everyone sends this link, we can build an overwhelming number of signatures that cannot be ignored. www.handicap-international.us/support_the_disability_treaty

3.   Increase and spread your social media. TWEET DAILY! Address your Tweets to Senators by starting your tweet message with an "at" sign (@) with their Twitter handle. Check this list of Twitter handles for all Senators. EXAMPLE: if you want to address Senator Bob Corker, start your Tweet with @SenBobCorker . Use the following hashtags: #isupportcrpd, #crpd, #disabilitiestreaty. Consider following other great advocates like @USICD, @ashettle @RhondaNeuhaus @IntDisability @auntpip.

If every organization will start with these three steps now, we will be positioned to make a big impression when the treaty process begins again in the Senate. Thank you for your continued support on this effort. More information will be sent as soon as we have it. Together, we WILL succeed!

International challenge: aiding those with disabilities

Disabled residents wait for help after being rescued from their nursing home during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in New Orleans.

By Tara Sonenshine, Special to CNN

updated 7:45 AM EDT, Mon October 21, 2013

Editor's note: Tara Sonenshine is former undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs and currently a distinguished fellow at George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs.

(CNN)-- Imagine not being able to hear a siren during an emergency or to see a warning sign to evacuate. Imagine navigating knee-high mud in a wheelchair or trying to explain to a child with Down syndrome why he or she must seek higher ground. Those are just some of the challenges facing those with physical and cognitive disabilities -- people often least prepared to face a natural disaster.

A largely overlooked report issued this month by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction found that the crucial needs of about 1 billion people living with physical and mental disabilities around the world are not woven into the disaster planning and emergency response plans of governments and civil society groups.

The result is that a disproportionate number of disabled persons suffer and die in disasters because of a lack of attention to their needs. Emergency response systems and shelters are poorly designed to handle their requirements. According to the report, 70% of those with disabilities who responded to the survey in over 100 countries said they did not know how to tap into any existing emergency response system in their communities. They become largely dependent on the good will of families and neighbors.

The report confirms the experience from recent catastrophes like the 2010 earthquake in Haiti -- where deaf victims were trapped underneath rubble, unable to hear the sounds of rescuers drilling above -- and the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, where victims in wheelchairs could not board evacuation buses or get into temporary housing that had no ramps.

And we have seen in the U.S. during Hurricane Katrina and other major storms how those with disabilities suffer. In a post-Katrina study of survivors, reports found that people with physical or cognitive disabilities faced considerable barriers to transportation, evacuation, and housing. Dozens died in nursing homes and medical centers. Many of the disabled survivors did not have jobs, making post-crisis transition even more challenging.

It is tempting to presume that people with disabilities are small in number. The reality, however, is that roughly 15% of people in the world live with a physical or cognitive disability -- many of them in developing countries that cannot afford care and inclusion.

In the United States, 37.2 million Americans have some form of disability. Despite the success of programs like the Americans with Disabilities Act, there are millions of people left without meaningful employment, education, and services before, during, and after a crisis.

The United States has a global imperative to address the needs of the disabled today -- especially in difficult fiscal times. Leaving aside the moral obligation, there is an economic driver at work. Worldwide, people with disabilities have higher unemployment rates than those without disabilities. In developing countries, 80% to 90% of persons of working age with disabilities are unemployed, whereas in industrialized countries the figure is between 50% and 70%. Their exclusion from the workplace deprives societies of an estimated $1.4 trillion in gross domestic product.

As we plan for disaster relief, as well as routine development and assistance, it is vital that America lead with a sustained commitment to those with disabilities. The U.S. failure to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities -- a convention signed by 155 nations -- reinforces a perception that America does not care about the disabled.

Yet despite the failure to ratify the convention, America has a good story to tell on inclusive development and disabilities. The U.S. Agency for International Development has led the way on supporting principles of universal design that not only fund specific programs to address the targeted needs of disabled citizens, but integrate disabilities into generalized programs that improve job training, education, quality and accessibility of care.

Over 75% of U.S. missions and USAID offices report activities and programs that specifically include people with disabilities. The U.S. State Department has a special adviser for international disability rights and has made enormous progress in expanding the range of U.S.-funded exchange programs to include more participants with disabilities and to convene international experts around the issue.

Recently, a major conference took place in Washington, with leaders on disability rights from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tajikistan, and Uganda and representatives from NGOs, universities, and government offices in the U.S., to address challenges facing persons with disabilities in their home communities. The U.S. sent the first-ever official team of disabled sports envoys to China to promote inclusion and equality for persons with disabilities.

This month we celebrate the 25th anniversary of National Disability Employment Awareness Month to pay homage to our own citizens with disabilities. The October campaign theme is "Because we are EQUAL to the task." This is a good time to think about those at home and overseas who are marginalized and excluded because of disabilities and make sure we are doing our part.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/21/opinion/sonenshine-disabilities-disasters/

Chicago: Owner, Executives and Physcians At Closed Sacred Heart Hospital Indcited in Alleged Medicare Referral Kickback Conspiracy: Oct 2013

as posted by the U.S. Attorneys Office...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE U.S. Attorney; Northern District of Illinois Oct. 23, 2013

CHICAGO ― The owner and three other executives of the now-closed Sacred Heart Hospital and four physicians affiliated with the former west side facility were indicted on federal charges alleging that they collectively paid and received hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal kickbacks in exchange for the referral of hospital patients who were insured by Medicare and Medicaid. Sacred Heart allegedly paid physicians bribes and kickbacks to induce patient referrals and increase the patient census, which, in turn, increased hospital revenue.

Sacred Heart Hospital was a 119-bed acute care facility located at 3240 West Franklin Blvd., in Chicago. The hospital closed and filed for bankruptcy this summer after Medicare payments were suspended in the aftermath of criminal charges that were first filed in April. The indictment charges only conduct involved in the alleged kickback conspiracy while a broader investigation that was outlined in the earlier criminal complaint continues.

The eight defendants were charged in a 17-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury late yesterday and announced today by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Five of the eight defendants were charged and arrested on April 16 this year, while three new defendants were charged in the indictment for the first time. A fifth physician associated with Sacred Heart was indicted separately for illegally prescribing prescription medications. No new arrests occurred in connection with the indictments.

Mr. Fardon announced the charges with Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service Office of Inspector General, and Robert J. Shields, Jr., Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of investigation.

The five defendants charged previously in the conspiracy case are: EDWARD J. NOVAK, 58, of Park Ridge, Sacred Heart’s owner and chief executive officer; ROY M. PAYAWAL, 64, of Burr Ridge, executive vice president and chief financial officer; and Drs. PERCY CONRAD MAY, JR., 75, of Chicago, SUBIR MAITRA, 73, of Chicago, and SHANIN MOSHIRI, also known as “Shawni Moshiri,” 58, of Chicago. All five of these defendants remain free on various bonds after they were arrested in April.

The three new defendants are: Dr. RAJIV KANDALA, 41, of Chicago; ANTHONY J. PUORRO, 57, formerly of Chicago, who was Sacred Heart’s chief operating officer; and NOEMI VELGARA, 64, of Chicago, who was Sacred Heart’s vice president of geriatric services and was responsible for overseeing the Golden L.I.G.H.T. medical clinics, including managing employees responsible for marketing, and recruiting and transporting patients.

All eight defendants will be ordered to appear for arraignment in U.S. District Court.

Four defendants ― Novak, Payawal, Puorro, and Velgara ― were each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the federal healthcare anti-kickback statute by offering and paying kickbacks and bribes, directly and indirectly, from Sacred Heart to Drs. May, Maitra, Moshiri, Kandala, and other physicians to induce them to refer patients to the hospital for services that would be reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid. Sacred Heart’s chief operating officer before Puorro, identified as “Administrator A,” is named as an unindicted co-conspirator.

In addition, Novak and Payawal were each charged with eight substantive counts of paying kickbacks for patients, while Drs. May, Maitra, Moshiri, and Kandala were charged with two counts each of accepting kickbacks for patient referrals. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of illegal proceeds from Novak, Payawal, and the four physicians, including the unspecified total amount of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements made on claims submitted on behalf of hospital patients whose referral involved kickbacks, and the total amount of kickbacks paid to the four physicians.

According to the indictment, Sacred Heart’s owner, executives and administrators conspired between 2004 and April 2013 to pay physicians bribes concealed as consulting, employment and personal services compensation, rent, and instructional stipends in return for referrals of Medicare and Medicaid patients. Although styled as payments for legitimate services, the payments actually contained disguised bribes paid to and for the benefit of Drs. May, Maitra, Moshiri, and Kandala in exchange for patient referrals.

The indictment alleges that Novak, Payawal, Puorro, and Administrator A caused Sacred Heart to pay May hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes disguised as rent, and Moshiri more than $150,000 in bribes disguised as payments for purportedly teaching podiatric surgery residents. Novak, Payawal, and Puorro allegedly caused Sacred Heart to pay Maitra at least $68,000 in bribes disguised as payments for purportedly teaching medical students at the hospital; and Kandala at least $32,000 in bribes disguised as compensation for consulting and instructional services purportedly provided to the hospital and its staff.

Payawal, Puorro, and Velgara allegedly agreed to have Sacred Heart offer to pay bribes to the hospital’s transportation staff to recruit and refer patients to the hospital, and those three defendants, together with Novak, also caused Sacred Heart to pay individuals employed as “marketers” to recruit patients.

As part of the same investigation, a fifth physician associated with Sacred Heart was indicted separately this month for allegedly illegally prescribing hydrocodone or lorazepam to four different patients without having a valid license and registration to prescribe controlled substances. The defendant, Dr. KENNETH S. NAVE, 51, of Chicago, who also was arrested and charged last April, allegedly illegally used the Drug Enforcement Administration registration number of another physician when he prescribed the prescription narcotics between October and December 2012. Nave pleaded not guilty at his arraignment this week.

Each count in the eight-defendant Novak indictment carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine and restitution is mandatory. Each count in the Nave indictment carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joel Hammerman, Ryan Hedges and Terra Reynolds.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case falls under the umbrella of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which expanded operations to Chicago in February 2011, and is part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the Justice Department and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. Dozens of defendants have been charged in health care fraud cases since the strike force began operating in Chicago.

To report health care fraud to learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: stopmedicarefraud.gov.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2013/pr1023_02.html

Study Completed on Accessible Playground Surface Materials - U.S. Access Board

 as shared by the U.S. Access Board....

Results from a recently completed study of accessible play surfaces reveal the importance of proper installation and regular maintenance.  The project, which was conducted by the National Center on Accessibility (NCA) at Indiana University with funding from the U.S. Access Board, assessed the performance of different surfacing materials at 35 new playgrounds over a 3-year period.  Surface materials tested include poured-in-place rubber, engineered wood fiber, rubber tiles, and hybrid surface systems.

“The findings from this project, one of the most comprehensive studies of playgrounds surfacing to date, clearly demonstrate that proper installation and maintenance are critical for accessibility,” states Jennifer Skulski, CPSI of the NCA, the study’s principal investigator. 

The study revealed that within 12 months of installation, each type of surface material was found to have accessibility, safety, or maintenance issues.  For example, poured-in-place rubber installed improperly at one site was not resilient enough to meet safety standards for impact attenuation, while surface tiles at another site had puncture holes, buckling and separating.  Findings from the project indicate that:

• loose fill engineered wood fiber had the greatest number of deficiencies, including excessive running slope, cross slope, and change in level, which became prevalent within a year of installation;
• engineered wood fiber surfaces also scored lower on firmness and stability ratings than unitary surfaces, such as tile and poured-in-place rubber;
• poured-in-place rubber, tiles and hybrid surface systems also exhibited deficiencies relating to excessive running and cross slopes, changes in level, and openings two to three years after installation; and
• some surfaces with fewer accessibility deficiencies and higher firmness and stability ratings did not meet the safety standards for impact attenuation

These and other conclusions are discussed in a report on the project, “A Longitudinal Study of Playground Surfaces to Evaluate Accessibility,” which is available on NCA’s website.

The Board and NCA will conduct a free webinar on accessible play surfaces and the results of the study on November 7 from 2:30 – 4:00 (ET).  Visitwww.accessibilityonline.org to register for the webinar.

For more information on the project, contact Jennifer Skulski, CPSI, Principal Investigator, 

at jskulski@indiana.edu or (812) 856-4422, or Peggy Greenwell of the Access Board at greenwell@access-board.gov, (202) 272-0017 (v), or (202) 272-0075 (TTY). 

Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4): Oct 2013 newsletter

as shared by our friends at Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4) ...

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