Category Archives: john mccoooey

Tim Feeney, John Mccooey & NY State DOH

Posted on by
Reply

Sources say Belvedere Brain Injury Program owner John Mccooey may be behind an effort to get Tim Feeney another contract with the New York State Department of Health to again oversee the Neurobehavioral Project for the state.  State officials are looking into the matter. Belvedere has sites in Albany and Syracuse.

Tim Feeney had three consecutive five-year contracts with the NY DOH to oversee the Neurobehavioral Project despite the fact his doctorate and masters degrees are bogus, not recognized as valid anywhere in the world. In his last years under contract, Feeney and Mccooey worked closely to develop a substance abuse program for Belvedere that, sources say, continues to deny participants choice and in some instances locks the doors when workshops begin, telling participants they will not be allowed back in if they have to use the bathroom or go for a drink of water.

Feeney is currently under contract with the Fort Ann School District in Washington County New York  to work with children, including children with disabilities and is again representing himself as Dr. Feeney or Tim Feeney PhD. School officials, including Fort Ann School Superintendent Maureen VanBuren, have been told about his bogus degrees but it seems they are continuing to work with Feeney anyway, the welfare of the children be damned.

Some Background

On more than once occasion I have been asked what led me to investigate and  Feeney’s credentials, or, as it turned out, his lack thereof.  Some think it is because when I was forced out of Belvedere, John Mccooey said Feeney made him do it. First of all, by the time Mccooey told me that he had about as much right to claim the mantel of honesty as Willie Sutton had to a job as bank manager. Mccooey’s finger pointing at Feeney is not what led me to investigate the on again off again rumors that Feeney’s credentials were, in a word I feel comfortable using in this blog, bullshit. What led me to investigate his credentials was a change in his, Feeney’s, pattern of behavior.

One of the things they teach you in behavior management is that a change in a person’s common behavior pattern means something. In 2007 it had become clear that my advocating for the rights of those participating in Belvedere’s Albany substance abuse program was going nowhere. Participants were being talked to in degrading ways by Belvedere employee Michael Loiselle, they were being denied choice as provided for in the regulations and in their rights as human beings, and John Mccooey was doing nothing about it. At the time I had a close relationship with Pat Green Gumson and Bruce Rosen in the Department of Health. I reached out and let them know that there were real problems and something needed to be done. Feeney and his crew were sent in to deal with the problems. Historically, when the DOH caught wind of participants being denied their rights, they corrected things. Not this time.

This time the punitive rights-denying behavior of Belvedere was supported. There had been a change in Feeney and the DOH’s  normal pattern of behavior.

And so now we are looking at the possibility of Feeney being reinstated and a dysfunctional company owner named John Mccooey being involved.

Equal Rights Will Prevail

Yes, it is disheartening to encounter people like Mccooey and Feeney who apparently see people with disabilities as a way to make money and make themselves feel big and strong (both men are wimps, by the way). But do not give up. There are in fact, some good people in the New York State Department of Health and there are some truly good people in the advocacy community who offer more than simply lip service to the cause of equal rights. I can tell you that in those rare moments when I get down, I remember Mandela, King, Elie Wiesel, Simon Wiesenthal, Rosa Parks, Gloria Steinem and countless others; God knows they paid heavier dues than I have. So no, I will never give up and I hope you won’t either.

Make Your Voices Heard

If you share my concerns you can make your voices heard by calling the complaint line at the Brain Injury Association of NY State – 518-459-7911 – the Commission on Quality of Care at 518-388-2887 or the DOH at 518-474-6580 or you can write to the Kahrmann Advocacy Coalition at kahrma1@gmail.com

Keep the faith.

____________________________

 

Belvedere Says No to Survivors’ Coalition

Posted on by
Reply

I’d like to say I’m  surprised that the Belvedere Brain Injury Program owned by John Mccooey will not let the Kahrmann Advocacy Coalition, founded by brain injury survivors, the very people Belvedere claims to serve, meet with fellow survivors in the Belvedere program, but this has always been an honest blog and I see no reason to change that.

Of course, preventing a coalition founded by those you claim to care about from meeting with survivors who participate in your program is a red flag if ever there was one. But I am not surprised. I worked for and with Belvedere for quite some time. I actually interviewed with them on 9/11. At first it was a troubled provider but it appeared as if owner John Mccooey truly wanted to develop the best possible services for the brain injury survivors in the program and it actually became a really good program, until, that is, Belvedere opened a substance abuse component. When that happened, everything changed.

Michael Loiselle who headed up and, to my knowledge, still heads up the substance abuse program, was about as dictatorial as one can be. More than once I heard him inflict one of his favorite expressions, “Too bad, so sad,” on a survivor who was talking about some tough time they were having. Moreover, Mccooey, then and now supports Loiselle even though Loiselle and the entire substance abuse program dictates to survivors what workshops they will or won’t attend. Never mind that the TBI Waiver, governed by the New York State Department of Health demands that the program be driven by the survivors. Loiselle and Mccooey couldn’t get me out fast enough. In fact, I once lightly touched Loiselle’s shoulder while talking with him and like a whiny little boy he ran to upper management and charge me with workplace harassment because I touched him. Not surprisingly, an investigation determined that he was, well, wrong.

As for John Mccooey, I’d call him a wolf in sheep’s clothing but I happen to like wolves and see no reason to insult them by dragging them down into the filth.

____________________________