Authorities mum on Evergreen Mountain View Health Care raid

State investigators from the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit spent nearly eight hours Thursday night and Friday morning sifting through medical records at Evergreen Mountain View Health Care.

But what they were looking for and what they found remains under seal in Carson City Justice Court.

"Because of the seal, we cannot release visuals or details about evidence removed or otherwise obtained," said Tom Sargent, public information officer for the Attorney General's Office. "We cannot confirm whether or not this action is connected with prior occurrences at the facility, nor can we confirm whether this is a matter of Medicaid fraud, patient abuse or both."

Bill Amoureaux, executive director of Evergreen Mountain View Health Care for the past two months, said investigators served the search warrant about 8 p.m. specifically asking to look at and copying patient records.

"We made all available instantly. Mountain View has nothing to hide. We give good care to our residents," he said. "We would have freely allowed agents to copy records without a warrant, which could have been served during the day, not in the dead of night."

Employees who were working Thursday evening said about 10 investigators entered and sealed the 146-bed center on Koontz Lane in South Carson City.

Amoureaux said no employees were held for questioning and none of the employees is under investigation.

He would not disclose which records were looked at or how many records were copied or reviewed.

The Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigates allegations of and, if warranted, prosecutes matters of Medicaid Fraud and elder patient abuse in long-term care facilities throughout Nevada.

"The Nevada Department of Justice, Office of Attorney General, takes allegations very seriously and acts aggressively on behalf of Nevada's seniors," said Sargent.

He said the sealing of the warrant was a step toward protecting the privacy of the residents.

Evergreen Health Care is based in Vancouver, Wash., with about 70 facilities across the nation. It opened a Gardnerville care center on Tuesday.

Recently an investigation into a complaint about the care of an 87-year-old man who died at the facility in December was re-opened by the Nevada Bureau of Licensure and Certification.

Six other Evergreen patients died Dec. 9, allegedly of a flu-like illness. The Health Division and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta investigated the deaths.

A bacteria known as Group A Beta Strep and an influenza virus were isolated from some of the patients, but no single causative agent or organism was named.

Contact F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.