Kernan Hospital

The federal government has filed a lawsuit against Kernan Hospital seeking $8.1 million because of what is says was improper billing to the Medicare and Medicaid system. The lawsuit filed by the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense accuses the rehabilitation hospital in Baltimore of falsely manipulating its computerized billing system so that it looked like patients had a severe form of malnutrition called kwashiorkor. Hospitals are compensated more for a patient who has a more severe and complex diagnosis.

Many thanks to Jay Hancock for his interesting article about the Justice Department accusing Kernan Hospital of fraud in presenting a diagnosis of kwashiorkor in the billing for a number of patients ("Feds charge fraud in Kernan diagnoses," Nov. 8). I find it hard to believe that any medical personnel would be so stupid as to bill for patients with a wildly unlikely diagnosis of kwashiorkor. It seems more likely that a billing clerk entered an erroneous ICD (international classification of disease)

The world of stars met the world of stitches yesterday -- and left its mark."I'm saving this side for Shirley MacLaine," said X-ray technician Laura Smith, indicating the still-blank right side of a lab coat that flaunted a freshly scrawled "Nicolas Cage" on the left. "But she seems very guarded."Which is appropriate, since Ms. MacLaine is the "Tess" and Mr. Cage is the "guard" in the coming movie, "Guarding Tess," that is being filmed in and around Baltimore.Yesterday, the filming took them to Kernan Hospital, an orthopedic rehabilitation facility in the Dickeyville area of West Baltimore and "a pretty quiet place until this happened," according to Ms. Smith.

It looked like a public health emergency. Hundreds of patients checking into Kernan Hospital were getting diagnosed with a severe form of malnutrition called kwashiorkor. Taking its name from a Ghanian word, kwashiorkor is typically seen in children and is marked by swollen feet, a swollen stomach and skin ulcers. It's common in Africa and developing nations elsewhere but is hardly heard of in the United States. But by 2008, according to records obtained from state regulators, the West Baltimore orthopedic hospital was diagnosing one in every eight patients with the disease that helps define famines in Somalia or Bangladesh.

Louis Bassett, whose rector described him as a "gentle soul" who devoted his life to the care and needs of patients at James Lawrence Kernan Hospital, died Monday of a stroke at Northampton Manor Nursing Home in Frederick. He was 81.Mr. Bassett, known as "Whitey," came to the hospital near Dickeyville as an orphan of 14 and remained there for the rest of his life, working as an orderly.A familiar figure dressed in his hospital whites until retiring in 1982, Mr. Bassett continued living on the grounds of Kernan's until he entered the Odd Fellows Home in 1992.

Loyola High lacrosse midfielder Daniel O'Hara, who was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center after suffering head and facial injuries in an April 13 car accident, is scheduled to be released from Kernan Hospital in Woodlawn today, his mother, Pat O'Hara, said last night. O'Hara was on a respirator for 12 hours after the accident. "Dan's gentle personality and good humor are intact," Pat O'Hara said of her son, who has suffered short-term memory loss. He will receive outpatient therapy from the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Goodbye, Montebello. Hello, Kernan.The William Donald Schaefer Rehabilitation Center at Kernan Hospital opened for business yesterday with about 100 patients -- including the last 60 from the Montebello Rehabilitation Hospital in Northeast Baltimore.The $30 million Schaefer Rehabilitation Center, on an 88-acre campus at the city's western edge, replaces the aging Montebello. The old hospital closed yesterday and will be converted into offices for Morgan State University.With 128 beds, the Schaefer center becomes the state's largest facility dedicated to rehabilitation, officials said.

Betty Loretta Pruce, a former Kernan Hospital volunteer and homemaker, died of heart disease May 3 at her Northwest Baltimore home. She was 97. Born Betty Loretta Fox in Windham County, Conn., she moved to Baltimore in 1929 and soon met her future husband, Earl Pruce, who became librarian of the old News American. Friends said Mrs. Pruce was talented in arts and crafts. Over the years she donated much of her handiwork to charitable institutions for sale in their gift shops. She was also a gift wrapper for Hutzler's department stores in the 1960s and 1970s.

The state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene must continue to pay for care for uninsured rehabilitation patients who are now served at Kernan Hospital, Attorney General J. Joseph Curran said in an opinion.The ruling was requested after a series of changes in the way rehabilitation patients were served.The health department used to operate its own rehabilitation facility, Montebello Center. The legislature in 1992 turned Montebello over to University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS).

John Jerome "Jack" Tansey, a well-known Baltimore orthopedic surgeon who was also an accomplished horseman and gardener, died Monday of lung cancer at the Charlestown retirement community. He was 89. Dr. Tansey, the son of a dentist and a homemaker, was born and raised in East Hampton, Mass., and graduated in 1939 from the Williston Northampton School in his hometown. After earning a bachelor's degree in 1943 from Brown University in Providence, R.I., he graduated in 1945 from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

The federal government has filed a lawsuit against Kernan Hospital seeking $8.1 million because of what is says was improper billing to the Medicare and Medicaid system. The lawsuit filed by the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense accuses the rehabilitation hospital in Baltimore of falsely manipulating its computerized billing system so that it looked like patients had a severe form of malnutrition called kwashiorkor. Hospitals are compensated more for a patient who has a more severe and complex diagnosis.

By Frederick N. Rasmussen, The Baltimore Sun Semmes Guest "Buck" Walsh, a retired Monumental Corp. executive who enjoyed singing, died Friday of a brain tumor at his Owings Mills home. He was 84. Mr. Walsh, the son of a career naval officer and a homemaker, was born and raised in Annapolis. He was a 1943 graduate of Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1946 in civil engineering from Yale University and a master's degree in business from Harvard Business School in 1950.

John Jerome "Jack" Tansey, a well-known Baltimore orthopedic surgeon who was also an accomplished horseman and gardener, died Monday of lung cancer at the Charlestown retirement community. He was 89. Dr. Tansey, the son of a dentist and a homemaker, was born and raised in East Hampton, Mass., and graduated in 1939 from the Williston Northampton School in his hometown. After earning a bachelor's degree in 1943 from Brown University in Providence, R.I., he graduated in 1945 from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Betty Loretta Pruce, a former Kernan Hospital volunteer and homemaker, died of heart disease May 3 at her Northwest Baltimore home. She was 97. Born Betty Loretta Fox in Windham County, Conn., she moved to Baltimore in 1929 and soon met her future husband, Earl Pruce, who became librarian of the old News American. Friends said Mrs. Pruce was talented in arts and crafts. Over the years she donated much of her handiwork to charitable institutions for sale in their gift shops. She was also a gift wrapper for Hutzler's department stores in the 1960s and 1970s.

Zoe M. Parrott, a former longtime Dickeyville resident and World War II veteran, died of pneumonia Monday at the Charlestown Retirement Community. She was 96. Zoe McFadden was born and raised in Roanoke, Ind. She attended Butler University in Indianapolis, and earned a law degree from George Washington University Law School in 1940. In 1942, she enlisted in the Navy WAVES - Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service - and served in Washington as a member of the Judge Advocate Corps.

The death of a man who was severely beaten outside a West Baltimore store Oct. 23 has been ruled a homicide, city police said yesterday. The victim, Lonnie E. Foote, 58, of the 6000 block of Park Heights Ave., died Nov. 6 at St. Agnes Hospital, according to his former wife, Arlene Clark. Police said an autopsy was performed Nov. 7 and, after an investigation, his death was ruled a homicide by blunt-force trauma Dec. 2. The case was turned over to the city homicide investigators the next day. But the homicide ruling was not revealed until yesterday.

Gladys Ketterman wrote her first check to Kernan Hospital in the 1970s. Then very soon after that, she wrote another. Her family knew she needed the money herself, but they didn't object, not even when she sent yet another. For more than 20 years, 82-year-old Gladys sent checks for whatever amount she had: $6.50, $15, $45, $78.50, $115, $167.50, $200, $225.25, $359.50. She won't say exactly how much she has given. Neither will the University of Maryland Medical System Foundation, which honored Gladys earlier this year for all her gifts.

Nina Roelke of Westminster recently was elected president of the Amputee Coalition of America at itsannual meeting.She is secretary/treasurer of the Board of Amputee Association ofMaryland, which has offices in the James Lawrence Kernan Hospital inBaltimore.The Amputee Coalition of America is a national affiliation of amputee organizations. One of the functions of the organizations is to provide support to persons undergoing the trauma of amputation.Roelke, herself an amputee, was a founding member of the Amputee Association of Maryland, which was recognized as one of the best functioning support groups in the country.

Three-time All-Metro selection Vince Taweel of Hammond, winner of three Class 2A-1A state titles and 149 career bouts, has committed to Duke University, he said yesterday. "I spoke to their coach, Clar Anderson [on Friday night], but it was a tough decision between them, American and Maryland because of their combinations of academics and wrestling," said Taweel, who became Hammond's second four-time Howard County champion and earned his fourth 2A-1A South regional title. Taweel, who went 40-2 this season at 135 pounds, failed to win his fourth state title when he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee in the state quarterfinals.

Gladys M. Brown, an artist, author and composer who wrote the official Calvert County song, died in her sleep Sunday at Calvert County Nursing Center in Prince Frederick, where she had lived since 2001. The former Huntingtown resident was 91. Gladys Mogck was born and raised on 41st Street in Baltimore. She developed an interest in music early in her life and studied violin from 1922 to 1930 at Peabody Preparatory. After graduating in 1932 from Eastern High School, she attended Strayer Business College and worked during the late 1930s as a nurse's aide at Kernan Hospital.