INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

ARE SENIORS SITTING ON $800,000?
Putnam Aging Has Plenty Of Money In Bank 
By Lawrence J. Smith

Officials from both Putnam Aging and the West Virginia                                        Department of Health                                   and Human Services                                      are ducking questions                                  on details about a                                  revenue-sharing plan                                between home-health                             companies and the                                program, a plan which                             reportedly netted                                 Putnam Aging nearly                                   $1 million.

PutnamLIVE.com                           learned that the                                       Putnam Aging Program                               has up to $800,000 in                            escrow while it determines what can be done with the money.

The plan supposedly allows companies to provide in-home medical services to senior citizens in Putnam Aging's service delivery area under its Medicaid provider number.

For the privilege of doing so, the companies pay the Program a fee.  It is estimated that Putnam Aging has earned between $500,000 to $800,000 from the revenue-sharing plan. Exactly how much is in the bank? We can't tell you. Putnam Aging won't answer the question. Neither will its Executive Director, Clinton "Bud" Beaver, or its Clarksburg attorney, Gordon Copland.

"More than a dollar," says Beaver, "Less than a billion dollars. Pick a number."

In fact, no Putnam Aging official would go on record about any aspect of the plan.  Likewise, officials at DHHR had little to say about plan, only they were “looking into” a Freedom on Information Act request that PutnamLIVE.com submitted to them.

Reportedly Putnam Aging's Board of Directors is trying to get a legal opinion from the State of West Virginia about how and when the up to $800,000 can be spent. That board is having a tough time getting that question answered as well.

 

Putnam Aging stonewalls inquiries

 PutnamLIVE.com first attempted to get a comment on the plan from Beaver in late September.  Despite repeated telephone left for him between then and early last month, Beaver only returned one in which he left a voice-message acknowledging he received the message left for him.

Mark Hallburn, PutnamLIVE.com’s publisher, personally made a visit to the Putnam Aging's riverfront office on November 7th.  Upon asking to speak with Beaver, the receptionist told Hallburn that Beaver was “on vacation.” At no time did she suggest that during any of the calls left for Beaver earlier in the week.

Undeterred, Hallburn went upstairs to speak with Debra Doss, Putnam Aging's finance director.  According to Hallburn, Doss told him that only Beaver could disclose that information. After instructing him to submit a FOIA request to Beaver on the matter, Doss told Hallburn to leave. He did, after asking Doss, "What are you hiding?" She never answered that question.

Later that evening, Hallburn was successful in reaching the vacationing Beaver at his Hurricane Creek home. When asked how much money the Putnam Aging had in its bank account from the plan, Beaver provided the vague and sarcastic “More than a dollar, less than a billion dollars. Pick a number,” line.

The next day, PutnamLIVE.com submitted its FOIA request to Beaver.  On November 16th, Copland left a message saying the request had been forwarded to him, and he was reviewing it.

About a week later, in a telephone interview, Copland said because the Program is a private, non-profit agency, it is not subject to FOIA requests.  When told that’s what Doss repeatedly instructed PutnamLIVE.com to do, Copland replied, “Ms. Doss was not correct.”

Nevertheless, in a written reply to the FOIA request, Copland says, “The program is happy of course to provide services to the public on the not-for-profit basis under its charter, but it does not become subject to the Freedom of Information Act simply because it is a not-for-profit entity with some ties to governmental entities.”

However, he did say that the Putnam Aging's board of directors could disclose any of the requested information at its discretion.

“I intend to tell the board that they should consider, at their discretion, releasing a limited portion of the information requested as part of its civic duty to the public,” Copland says.

 

Reply to FOIA request pending

In the course of calling Beaver, PutnamLIVE.com also called the DHHR’s Bureau of Senior Services.  Those inquiries were referred to Patricia Winston at the Bureau for Medical Services.

However, Winston, director for behavior and alternative health care policy, did not return any of the repeated telephone calls left for her.  On November 24th, a FOIA request was submitted to Winston with a copy forwarded to BMS Commissioner Marsha Morris, and DHHR Secretary Martha Yeager Walker.

On November 28th, Quandora Hornbuckle, Morris’ secretary, left a voice-message concerning telephone calls made to Morris about the FOIA request.  In her message, Hornbuckle said Morris was unable to return them because she was “not on-site,” but that a reply to the request could be expected.

“There are some individuals looking into your request, and we will get back to you as quickly as we can,” Hornbuckle says. So far, no one has responded.

Also, that same day Copland left a voice-message saying that the Program’s board will hold its next meeting at on Wednesday, December 5th at the Fifth Quarter restaurant in Charleston. Though its meetings are typically not open to the public, Copland says the board is “willing to hear the public with any questions, proposals or suggestions.”

After lunch, and an executive meeting, the public would be welcome to address the board about 2:00 p.m., Copland promised.

However, upon arriving at the restaurant at 1:55 p.m., it was discovered the meeting was cancelled. According to the restaurant's host, Beaver called about 11:30 a.m. to cancel the Program’s lunchtime reservation. Beaver never called PutnamLIVE.com to advise us of the cancellation or any rescheduling of the meeting.

An email was sent to Beaver requesting a sit-down interview about this issue. As of this publication Friday morning, Beaver has yet to respond.

PutnamLIVE.com will be following up on this issue in the coming weeks, no matter how much Beaver, Putnam Aging or DHHR attempt to duck our questions about the up to $800,000 sitting in the bank.

Clinton "Bud" 

Beaver