“The allegations were nonspecific,” said CRMC Public Relations Director Gary Boley, saying that was a reason for a number of internal investigations. “There was never anything to look for, because they weren’t that specific — general in nature.”

“I think there was one specific one that I know of. They specifically looked at that one and found no fault with it,” Dominy said.

“We were very specific,” Howell countered.

The complaint listed details of 11 patient cases as examples of the allegations including dates of service.

“There are 140,000 pages of regulations that deal with Medicare reimbursement,” he said. “It makes it extremely difficult for hospitals to operate when there are that many regulations that are constantly changing, especially when you consider the hospital’s revenue volume. During that five-year period, more than a half-billion dollars flowed through Colquitt Regional Medical Center.”

“Any attempt by CRMC to belittle the importance of this settlement, their conduct or the amount paid is disingenuous — $475,000 is a lot of money. In my experience, companies don’t pay that kind of money to settle claims unless the claims have merit,” Howell said.

“The government’s investigation was extensive — two years long,” he said. “The U.S. Attorney and his investigators team came to Moultrie several times during those two years, met with me, met with Joyce, met with witnesses who were mainly ex-employees of CRMC, subpoenaed, collected and reviewed literally thousands of records, hired their own experts. So it’s not as if they didn’t take a hard look at this for a long time. And ultimately, they decided that Joyce was correct — what she alleged was going on there was going on there.”

Pending still is a related lawsuit against CRMC and its CEO Jim Lowry for alleged retaliation against Dickerson that caused her to lose her job. Discussions of a settlement in that case begin next week. Dickerson is seeking damages for the loss of her job, back pay, compensatory damages and attorney’s fees.