December 29, 2011: 2011, Issue 52
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Judge Allows state to remove Soundview Health Center from Medicaid

Bronx Times

The lawsuit to keep Soundview Health Center in New York State’s Medicaid program has hit a dead end.

On Thursday, December 22, Bronx Supreme Court Judge Mark Friedlander ruled that he had no authority to overturn the state’s decision to remove Soundview, which was founded by former Senator Pedro Espada, from Medicaid.

Earlier this year, the State Department of Health and Office of the Medicaid Inspector General ruled that Soundview did not have a legitimate Medicaid compliance program. Soundview’s lawyers tried fighting the ruling in court, but Friedlander’s decision effectively ends that battle.

Soundview received approximately $10 million from the Medicaid program last year, and will struggle to stay open without the financial support.

Espada and his son face federal charges for allegedly embezzling money from Soundview, and are scheduled to go on trial in March.

Espada received more bad news on Tuesday, December 27, as a the state’s Legislative Ethics Commission found “reasonable cause” that he broke the law by hiring an uncle as a Senate staffer in 2009. Espada could face additional charges as a result.

Representatives for Soundview, meanwhile, say the chain of clinics will remain open.

“We assert that our patients desperately need and deserve the services provided by Soundview,” board chair Monica Harris-Coleman said in a statement.

Although without Medicaid funding, time is running out on the clinics.

Community Board 9 chair Francisco Gonzalez said that without the five clinics, which include a flagship location on White Plains Road, residents of the district will face a challenge in finding affordable health care.

“This is a devastating loss for the community,” he said. “The Soundview center has been serving the community for more than 30 years. A lot of people depend on the services they provide, because there’s no hospital in the immediate area. It’s a real travesty.”

Gonzalez said the fate of Soundview and the future of health care in the CB 9 area has been a hot topic of discussion in his office.

Soundview claims it serves 20,000 patients on a regular basis.

Espada called the state Ethics Committee’s findings “false from beginning to end.”

Bill Weisbrod can be reached via e-mail at bweisbrod@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 742-3394.

Reader Feedback

Franck StrongbowBoy from Soundview says:
The Soundview Healthcare Network is a victim of racsim, political chicanery and vengeance at the hands of the administration of Governor Andrew Cuomo. Former senate president Pedro Espada, Jr., is the victim of a political vendetta motivated by deep hatred by Gov. Cuomo toward Mr. Espada because as a senator Espada did not want to overthrow then-Governor Paterson the way Cuomo wanted. Too bad Espada did not keep the Emails he got from Cuomo's office from the time Andrew Cuomo was looking for Paterson to be toppled .
Mr. Espada's troubles are similar to those of French general Alfred Dreyfus who in the late 19th Century, was a victim of racism, and was also framed for being honest, and for being a French Jew in a Nation that embodied blind faith to the Pope's religion, and who practiced outright bigotry to the extreme.
France jailed General Dreyfus on doctored evidence, and framed him outright just like New York's Governor has done to Mr. Espada. In the time of General Dreyfus there were writers and journalists of true courage who did not go along to get along like most journalists of this days and age choose to do, fearing more for their jobs and perceived status of privilege, than for honesty and principle. General Dreyfus had the backing of Emile Zola, the great prolific writer-journalist who accused the French government of framing General Dreyfus. Mr. Espada has been framed by his political enemies much the same way the late U.S Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was framed by the Justice Department of the George W. Bush Administration. Deep hatred for Senator Stevens by President Bush motivated the vendetta launched against Senator Stevens, who was wrongfully convicted of crimes he did not commit, but thankfully, when Eric Holder became U.S. Attorney General, he corrected the Government's misguided and criminal witch hunt toward Mr. Stevens, and exonerated him, dismissed the charges against Ted Stevens who by that time, was an ex-senator who would have served jail time had Eric Holder , God bless him, not investigated what really went on. Sadly, Ted Stevens died in a plane crash not long after Attorney General Holder gave him back his good name, and restored his dignity which was robbed by George W. Bush who framed Stevens, a member of the Republican Party for over 60 years. President Bush should have went to jail for high crimes and misdemeanors, especially for lying to the American people about weapons of mass destruction that never existed in Iraq.
Sadly, these days we have no journalists possessed of any courage to take on Cuomo. New York news reporters fear Cuomo. Ask your selves why, and you will find that Cuomo is vengeful, and is capable of indicting even a ham sandwich..
Dec. 29, 2011, 6:52 am
Ric from New York says:
Certainly the residents of the Bronx are the victims, however they are responsible for electing a criminal and allowing his family to cause this inconvenience to their lives. They should Vote Diaz out before the Government determines what he's up to.
Jan. 19, 10:21 am

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