PHOENIX — Editor's note: This story has been updated with new information from Head to Toe.
There is more confusion and turmoil at the financially-strapped Head to Toe Therapy clinic in Phoenix, a facility that the state suspended in November from receiving Medicaid funds because of fraud claims.
This week, four therapists who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, told 12 News they are owed an average of $10,000 each for work completed dating back to December.
More than a dozen therapists are owed several thousand dollars each, and many of them are packed up and ready to leave, a therapist said. Some have already left, unsure if they will get paid at all.
“So many therapists cry every day and it’s making us physically sick because we love what we do and we see the emotional toll this takes on us and our families,” one therapist said.
The clinic has also not paid cleaning crews for months and there is an infestation of “rats, roaches and flies” in the facility, multiple therapists told 12 News.
An OSHA health and safety inspection remains open regarding a complaint filed in November. The results of the inspection are expected to be released within a couple of weeks, a spokesperson for the Arizona Industrial Commission said.
Dating back to at least 2011, the clinic was a qualified vendor of the Arizona Department of Developmental Disabilities, treating children with physical and developmental disabilities.
Bridget O’Brien, the owner of Head to Toe, has not made herself available for more than a year to answer questions by 12 News. O’Brien hired the Rose Law Group to represent her.
“The state is authorizing patients to be seen (by Head to Toe) even though the payment suspension has not been lifted,” said Attorney Olen Lenets of the Rose Law Group.
Leadership at Head to Toe takes the position that they still have a contractual and ethical obligation to provide continuity of care for its patients, even though the state has suspended payments.
When the state announced its suspension of payments to Head to Toe Therapy in November, a representative of the Department of Economic Services said families who were getting treatment from the clinic would be referred to other qualified vendors for future services. However, managers at Head to Toe told families they could continue at the clinic, and many remained.
The suspension announcement came after stories by 12 News revealing a history of mismanagement and questionable practices at the massive clinic.
Since 2018, dozens of occupational and speech therapists who held independent contracts with the clinic were given various, often contradicting reasons for why they weren’t being paid on time.
They were forced to quit or continue working for the clinic while defaulting on personal bills. The instability also impacted the quality of care children were receiving, many therapists said.
In Oct. 2019, Gov. Doug Ducey announced his office was looking into the claims of mismanagement.
Within weeks, the Inspector General of AHCCCS announced the temporary, system-wide suspension of Medicaid payments to the clinic, pending the outcome of an investigation.
That investigation continues and there is no indication yet when it will be wrapped up.
The reasons for the alleged fraud include billing for services not provided, creation of false documentation and services provided by unlicensed providers.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Arizona DDD said the suspension remains in place and the clinic is not being reimbursed for services provided.
According to Lenets, when Head to Toe sought clarification from the state about its suspension in November, DDD gave no definitive answer how Head to Toe should proceed to conform with its obligations under the contract. The possibility of retroactive reimbursements was also left open by the state, Lenets said.