Vermont AG Investigation Of Brattleboro Retreat Finds ‘No Criminal Misconduct’
Brattleboro Retreat in 2013. Photo by Susan Keese for VPR
The Vermont Attorney General’s Office announced Monday that it found “no criminal misconduct” following a five-year investigation of the Brattleboro Retreat, a mental health treatment facility in southern Vermont.
A press release issued Monday detailed the investigation’s findings. Attorney General TJ Donovan said that the state’s Medicaid Fraud Unit launched the investigation which looked into alleged billing discrepancies in the federal Medicaid program.
Former Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell first launched an investigation in 2013 after a former Retreat employee alleged Medicaid fraud at the southern Vermont psychiatric hospital. Two years later, State Auditor Doug Hoffer recommended that the AG widen the scope.
Donovan said that while there are Medicaid billing problems to correct, there was no financial harm done to the state’s Medicaid program.
“The Retreat certainly had its issues, but we found no criminal conduct, in terms of our review, to bring a criminal charge,” Donovan told VPR Monday.