LEGAL NEWSLINE

BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced a court appointed a receiver Friday for the Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Center to oversee the center's closure.

Coakley's office filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking a court-appointed receiver to oversee the facility's closure. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Garry Inge appointed Joseph Feaster, an attorney at the Boston-based McKenzie and Associates, as the receiver. Feaster will ensure that patients are properly assisted in transferring their medical records and care and that employees receive the wages they are owed.

"RoxComp has provided critical health services for more than 45 years, but unfortunately its finances have deteriorated to a level that it could not recover," Coakley said. "A receiver is a necessary step to provide for the proper care of former RoxComp patients and ensure staff are paid the wages they are owed."

RoxComp closed abruptly in March after several serious regulatory and compliance issues cited by state and federal regulators starting in April 2012. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health conducted an on-site inspection in January and issued a written warning directing the center to correct administrative, financial and clinical deficiencies, including poor on-site security, improper storage of medical and nursing supplies, improper medical records storage and vendors terminating services for the disposal of medical waste.

RoxComp allegedly failed to develop a verifiable plan to meet the deficiencies. The facility relinquished its federal Health Resources and Services Administration grant. RoxComp also agreed to relinquish its DPH license effective on April 19.

RoxComp allegedly failed to assist patients or manage its financial obligations after the center's closure, failed to notify approximately 4,000 patients about its closure, failed to remove medical waste from its premises, failed to pay its creditors or collect receivables owed to the center, and terminated all of its employees on March 20 without providing them wages owed.

Coakley's office filed the lawsuit to obtain the receiver to preserve the safety, health and well-being of RoxComp's patients, conserve the center's assets and wind down the center's operations in an orderly fashion.