Southcentral Foundation fires 3 dental executives over ‘substantiated serious compliance issues'

The Southcentral Foundation has fired three top executives in its dental department over what the organization described as “serious compliance issues” brought to light by an anonymous whistleblower.

An anonymous complaint led to an investigation which found that dentists “falsified health records by attributing one dentist as the provider of routine dental exams when that dentist did not actually perform the procedures,” the organization said in a statement Wednesday.

Three top doctors were fired last Wednesday: vice president of resource and development Kevin Gottlieb and dental directors Thomas Kovaleski and Clay Crossett. All had worked for the Southcentral Foundation for decades.

Kevin Gottlieb’s wife is Katherine Gottlieb, the president and CEO of the organization.

In 2018, the foundation opened a new pediatric dentistry building named after the couple, the Dr. Katherine and Dr. Kevin Gottlieb Building.

It was not clear whether the revelations could lead to criminal charges related to fraudulent billing practices. The foundation said it reported the problems to federal prosecutors and “will fully comply with any investigations.”

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office acknowledges receipt and is aware of the release,” wrote Chloe Martin, a spokeswoman for the office in Alaska. “Under (U.S. Department of Justice) policy, we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.”

No patients were harmed as a result of the falsified records, the organization said.

The Southcentral Foundation offers more than 80 health care programs and services ranging from pediatrics to physical therapy to a research program. The foundation says it serves 65,000 Alaska Native and American Indian people in Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and 55 rural villages.

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