Friends, the nation's oldest private psychiatric hospital, has sought to repair its image since state and city officials raised concerns last year about oversight of patients, including one who committed suicide. State inspectors maintained that the suicide could have been prevented.
The hospital brought in a new chief executive officer, Kenneth Glass, in September, and then lured four doctors away from Temple University Health System. In January, it opened a recovery unit that offers peer support to help patients get reestablished in the community.
Magellan manages the behavioral health care for Medicaid patients in Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties. It has stopped referring patients to Friends once before - after last year's suicide and other concerns about what a Delaware County official termed "allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior."
Magellan resumed referring patients to Friends this year. But it dropped the hospital again last month, said Karen Upchurch, a spokeswoman for Magellan. She declined to say why, adding that few Magellan patients were at the hospital at the time.
Asked about the reason for Magellan's move, Delaware County health official Jonna DiStefano said the whistleblower letter had come in May from an anonymous former employee, alleging insufficient staffing coupled with too many patients. DiStefano, administrator of the county's office of behavioral health, said she had no further details.
"I know Magellan was working toward finding out what was the real story," DiStefano said.
Greg Matusky, a spokesman for the hospital, said Friends looked forward to persuading Magellan officials to reverse the decision.
