Upper Allegheny Health System has agreed to pay $2.7 million to the United States, New York and Pennsylvania to resolve allegations that it treated patients with unsterilized tools, the New York attorney general's office announced May 25.
UAHS is a two-member hospital system comprising Olean General Hospital in Olean, N.Y., and Bradford (Pa.) Regional Medical Center. A former UAHS employee alleged under the New York and federal False Claims Act that between April 1, 2010, and May 31, 2015, the health system billed Medicaid for dental services where it failed to sterilize dental tools between patients.
The office's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit worked with the United States Attorney's Office in the Western District of New York and Pennsylvania to reach the agreement. As part of the settlement, $1.4 million of the total amount will go to New York and $1 million will go to the federal government.