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Orange County to assume oversight of Be Well campus after audit finds billing and oversight gaps
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Summary
After an audit found monitoring and billing deficiencies under Mind OC, the county’s Health Care Agency will assume oversight at the Be Well Orange campus and contract directly with Exodus Recovery and HealthRight360. The board approved contracts and asked staff to provide lease and billing detail to supervisors.
The Board of Supervisors approved contracts that let the county Health Care Agency (HCA) assume monitoring and oversight of services at the Be Well Orange campus after an audit found deficiencies in oversight, charting and billing while a third party monitor, Mind OC, was in place.
Dr. Veronica Kelly, HCA director, told the board the county will add Exodus Recovery (mental-health crisis services) and HealthRight360 (substance-use disorder services) to the county master agreement and will oversee the campus directly. Kelly said that moving oversight to the county will make the program more efficient and that she expects about $6 million in reduced costs over the contract term and the opportunity to pursue nearly $1 million in retroactive Medi-Cal billing that had not previously been recovered.
Supervisors pressed for clarity on staffing and lease terms. Vice Chair Doug Chaffee and Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento asked how many staff are on each provider roster (Dr. Kelly said roughly 120 for Exodus and about 65 for HealthRight360) and asked that the county present outcome reporting and a financial breakdown of rents and subleases tied to Mind OC’s leasehold interests. CEO real-estate staff said the county owns the land, Mind OC holds a long-term lease interest and that subleases to service providers are under review to adjust rent consistent with a modified operational relationship.
The board approved the item unanimously and directed staff to provide additional financial and contract details, to ensure billing claims are processed and to report back on outcomes and staffing impacts. HCA said existing staff and providers will remain operational on the campus during the transition and that Mind OC’s monitoring contract will be terminated for convenience as part of the transition process.