MYSTERY AS TWO TOP EXECS AT REHAB COMPANY KILL THEMSELVES
Employees of a multistate rehab company have been left in the dark after several facilities shut across the country following the suicides of the two top executives.
Retreat Behavioral Health, which has facilities in Florida, Philadelphia and Connecticut, abruptly closed their facility in Palm Beach, Florida, last week.
Employees told WPTV that around 100 mental health and substance use patients were told to pack up and leave, including 30 who had nowhere to go.
Facilities in Lancaster County, PA, and New Haven, CT, have also since shuttered following the deaths of CEO Peter Schorr and CAO Scott Korogodsky.
Korogodsky had taken up the leadership of the company after Schorr killed himself at his home in Delray Beach, according to LancasterOnline.
Days after Schorr died, Korogodsky also killed himself life - according to the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office.
Lissa Franklin, the VP of Southeast Florida Recovery Advocates, told CBS12: 'I'm sure there’s more to the story, but from the employees that I spoke with most everybody that was there did find safe and supportive discharge options.
'It’s very sad what happened to the Retreat. From my experience. it was a great program.
'They always helped everyone in the community. They treated everybody with compassion and kindness.'
According to Franklin the facility was one of the only ones in the area that accepted Medicaid or VA health insurance policies.
Internal emails sent to staff and seen by the outlet show that Korogodsky assured members of staff they would be paid after a delay in receiving paychecks.
On Thursday, Alexander Hoinsky, the chief financial officer for the facility, said that the company had been on dire straits financially for at least a year.
Hoinsky told WPTV that he had grew concerned after executives at the company stopped taking his calls.
He said: 'I left messages and emails [and] laid out what was going to go forward. Basically, they did not want to hear it.'
He continued: 'Here's the facts, the company ran out of cash. Revenue dropped drastically and they didn’t adjust costs.'
Meanwhile workers at the facility in Palm Beach are still waiting to be paid for their work after being informed of their termination last week.
One nurse said: 'I don’t know what days I was scheduled for. I just decided to show up.
'I just wanted to be there. Because when they said everybody was going to be discharged it just sounded like such a huge task.'
The nurse, who wished to remain anonymous, told WPTV, that the fire alarm had been triggered and everyone was out of the building.
After being let inside, she claimed that patients started fighting with each other with staff members unable to deescalate the situation.
According to the worker, patients were breaking into nurse stations to get at narcotics - while workers emptied fridges full of food.
Hoinsky believes that employees will be paid for their final three weeks work and is hoping he will also be paid.
Besides financial issues, Schorr was also named in a lawsuit filed in January that accused him of hanging onto a $50,000 deposit for a property sale that collapsed.
Another suit in New York seeks over $5 million from the company that owns Retreat for defaulting on a loan dating back to 2018.
Court records in Florida also show that the Palm Beach County Tax Collector sued the site for not paying a $1,700 tax bill.
The company posted on social media following the death of Schorr, saying: 'It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Peter Schorr, the founder of Retreat Behavioral Health.
'Peter's unwavering dedication and compassion have transformed countless lives.
'We are committed to carrying on his legacy, ensuring his spirit continues to guide our mission at Retreat.
'Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.'
While tributes for Korogodsky have since been shared on social media describing him as an 'amazing person'.
Read more 2024-06-28T16:25:26Z dg43tfdfdgfd
