A 47-year-old Daytona-area woman who worked at Halifax Medical Center for 15 years says she saw illegal kickbacks to doctors and billing fraud that went on for more than a decade, and kept hoping someone else would report it.
But when no one did, the Orlando Sentinel reports, ElinBaklid-Kunz became the whistleblower in a case that could one day become one of the largest involving just one hospital system. Halifax’s requests for dismissal have twice been denied, and pre-trial depositions are in the late stages, which means the trial could begin late this year.
While the case involves allegations of fraudulent billions, it’s about more than money: During just one month of 2008, according to the complaint, 82 percent of patients admitted for chest pain did not meet criteria.