Tag Archives: TBI Waiver

Living with a Brain Injury: Them There First Hours

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A few housekeeping things on the front end of this essay. First, no two brain injuries are exactly alike. Second, too many healthcare providers (and others) act as if they are alike and treat us as if they are alike and that does nothing by amplify the already formidable challenge of living life with a brain injury. Third, there are some similarities. One of them I will talk about here, is the fact that our relationship with our injuries changes over time. As we age, our physiology changes and we change.

Before I move on, let me say that the number one complaint I hear from survivors across my state and beyond is they are far too often treated like they are children. It’s true. I’ve witnessed it. Two facts to keep in mind: no one every suffered a brain injury and got younger, and no one ever suffered a brain injury and lost their individuality.  I was 30 when I got shot in the head and when I came to on the ground, damned if I wasn’t still 30 and, by the way, still Peter Kahrmann.

All of us who live with brain injuries face the task of learning how to recognize when the injury’s impact is present and then developing ways of managing that presence. Given that this presence changes, many injuries, for instance, are one experience when we are rested and another when we are fatigued, we are all, like everyone else on the planet, a work in progress.

Over the past months I have been relearning how to manage the first hours of my day. When I wake up in the morning I generally know the things I am supposed to do that day. Go to the store, make a phone call or two, write and answer some emails, get dog food, feed the dogs, go for a walk, work on the book, read, go to the market, and so forth.

Now, pretend for a moment, that everything I just mentioned represents a ball I want you to juggle without dropping. Not easy, perhaps impossible, which is exactly how I feel about being able to complete my day’s tasks when I wake up. Impossible! When I wake up and register the things I am supposed to do that day I am instantly overwhelmed, frightened, and positive I can do none of them. I can’t emotionally do the juggling and thus am unable to envision how on earth I will get anything done.

But there is good news. This early morning flooding is temporary. I have learned it takes my brain time to wake up and gather itself because, after being awake for a couple of hours, what felt impossible now feels very possible. And so, my early morning strategy is reminding myself that this too shall pass. So, I have my morning coffee, relax, read the news on the web, and wait for my brain to wake up.

Before I sign off here, a word to those in the healthcare field who work with us. If you don’t provide us with a non-judgmental environment that recognizes our individuality you will fail miserably in your stated desire to help us grow our lives. In fact, you will make the task of growing our lives and managing our injuries even harder. I know what I say here will make a difference to the many providers who truly do care. I also know what I say won’t make a damn bit of difference to the providers who don’t care. They’re out there too. I’ve seen’m.

Update on NY’s TBI Waiver

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The New York State Department of Health is looking for a not-for-profit entity to serve as the state’s neurobehavioral resource project. At least $400,000 in state tax dollars is available for the first year of the upcoming contract. The current neurobehavioral project has been headed for the past 15 years by Timothy J. Feeney who, as this blog as reported, who misrepresented and continues to misrepresent his credentials.

Mr. Feeney’s contract expires December 30 of this year. The concern now for survivors of brain injury like myself, along with health care providers and family members, advocates and others, is what standards will the DOH set this time and will the DOH be sure to vet those who contract with the state to provide support and services to people who live with brain injuries.

While the Feeney era may appear to be over, it ain’t over until it’s over, as the delightful Yogi Berra says.

The following is the standards the NY DOH is seeking for the director of the neurobehavioral project. While there seems to be an increase in standards, it concerns me that the qualifications being sought are absent any real clinical background in brain injury. In other words, one would have hoped a neuropsychologist or neurologist would be sought. You can review the grant funding application request in its entirety at:

http://www.health.state.ny.us/funding/rfa/0908031109/0908031109.pdf

To be qualified to be the Project Director, the individual should possess substantial clinical experience with persons with a TBI and/or a neurobehavioral disorder in community based settings. Project Director must have one of the following credentials:
(A)
A license and current registration to practice medicine in New York, and board eligibility or board certification in psychiatry with three (3) years of experience providing behavioral services; or
(B)
A license and current registration to practice psychology in New York State, and three (3) years of experience in providing behavioral services or traumatic brain injury services; or
(C)
Master of Social Work, Doctorate or Master degree in Psychology, Registered Physical Therapist (licensed by NYS Education Department pursuant to Article 136 of the NYS Education Law), Mental Health Practitioner (licensed by NYS Education Department pursuant to Article 163 of the NYS Education Law), Registered Professional Nurse (licensed by the NYS Education Department pursuant to Article 139 of the NYS Education Law), Certified Special Education Teacher (certified by the NYS

Education Department), Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (certified as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification), Licensed Speech Language Pathologist (licensed by the NYS Education Department pursuant to Article 159 of the NYS Education Law), or Registered Occupational Therapist (licensed by the NYS Education Department pursuant to Article 156 of the NYS Education Law), and a minimum five (5) years of experience providing neurobehavioral services.

If you have suggestions or comments or concerns, please let this blog know, and don’t hesitate to contact:

Charlotte Mason

NYS Department of Health Office of Long Term Care Division of Home and Community-Based Services Bureau of Medicaid Waivers

99 Washington Avenue, Suite 826

Albany, New York 12210

Attn: Brenda Rossman
E-Mail: tbi@health.state.ny.us

Feeney Era Ends

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Timothy J. Feeney’s reign over the New York Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver has likely come to an end.

Sources say the New York State Department of Health has chosen not to seek proposals for the contract now held, for all intents and purposes, by Timothy J. Feeney. If correct, Mr. Feeney’s contractual relationship with the DOH, which made him the director of a project that was arguably the most powerful influence over the implementation of New York’s Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver, ended on September 30.

While the Feeney era may be over now, there is concern the DOH will send out requests for proposals and the company awarded the contract will turn around and hire Mr. Feeney. This advocate would urge the DOH to send out a request for proposals because Waiver Providers and those receiving services from these providers deserve a highly trained team of experts to turn to for support and guidance. However, this time I would urge the DOH to set a higher bar in its proposal request and make sure that those involved in the project are truly qualified and represent the spectrum of experience best equipped for the job: neuropsychologists, family members, survivors and so on.

For 15 years Mr. Feeney misrepresented his credentials to brain injury survivors, their families and waiver providers. He claimed he had a masters then a PHD  when, in fact, he had neither. In print publications and on the net he falsely refers to himself as Dr. Feeney or Timothy J. Feeney, PhD.  His “degrees” were issued by Greenwich University, a diploma mill that was located in Hawaii and California in the 1990s before moving its operation to Norfolk Island off the coast of Australia in 1998. Greenwich University, not to be confused with the prestigious University of Greenwich in England, graces numerous diploma mill lists on the net. It closed its doors in 2003.

However, even though his false credentials have been thoroughly exposed and documented, it appears shame and conscience have little impact in Mr. Feeney’s decision making. Last week I gave a speech for St. Lawrence NYSARC in Canton, New York (NYSARC, by the way, is one of the shining stars in healthcare from where I sit). My speech was in the morning. Mr. Feeney gave a speech that afternoon. When I opened the program I saw it;  he was listed as Timothy J. Feeney PhD and, in several places was referenced as Dr. Feeney. Some people never learn.

Last week I received two letters pertaining to this situation. One came from the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General. They have referred the Feeney matter to Dr. Richard Daines, the New York State Health Commissioner, for investigation. The second was from New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office. They too are carefully considering the matter.

And the beat goes on.

Silence from New York’s DOH

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A letter to a DOH official asking her to investigate how several million dollars of state taxpayer money has been paid to a project run by New York State contract employee Timothy J. Feeney who does not have the credentials he says he has has been met with silence.

A July 25 letter to Patricia Greene Gumson of the New York State Department Health has gotten no response. The letter, copied to others in and out of the DOH, asked Ms. Gumson to investigate how it was that Timothy J. Feeney received three five-year contracts with the DOH despite the fact he misrepresented his credentials. Was there a vetting process and, if so, what was it? It is critically important for the readers of this blog to avoid villainizing the DOH as a whole. There are quite a few honorable people working there and straightening things out while dealing with the ineffable web of bureaucracy is no easy task.

However, Mr. Feeney himself indicates that some in the DOH knew about the problems with his credentials. According to unsolicited e-mail this year to readers of my blog, some in the DOH knew Mr. Feeney did not have the college degrees he claims to have. In his e-mail, Mr. Feeney said, “The Department of Health, the state office responsible for the Neurobehavioral Resource Project, is well aware of my educational history, the source of my (college) degrees.”

For nearly 15 years now Mr. Feeney has headed up the Neurobehavioral Resource Project for New York State’s Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver. The Project is arguably the most powerful influence on the waiver across the state. There can be no argument  that the TBI Waiver is a blessing to the state and desperately needed as it affords many with brain injuries to live in the community. However, there can also be no argument that survivors of brain injury, their families and other loved ones, along with the hard working companies that provide waiver services across the state have a right to expect people to be who they say they are.

As readers of this blog already know, Mr. Feeney claims to have a PhD and Masters degree when he has neither one. The letter also asked Ms. Gumson to look into how it was that none of the three contracts that some might see as jerry-rigged didn’t require the person heading up the Neurobehavioral Project to even have a master’s degree.

In short, Mr. Feeney’s degrees were received from Greenwich University, a diploma mill located in Hawaii and California in the 1990s before moving its operation to Norfolk Island off the coast of Australia. Degrees from Greenwich have never been recognized as valid in the Australian mainland and have never been recognized as valid anywhere in the United States of America. Greenwich, not to be confused with the prestigious University of Greenwich in England, closed its doors in 2003.

Brain injury survivors, the families and other loved ones as well as waiver providers across the state deserve answers. Here are some but not all the questions that ought to be answered.

How productive has the Neurobehavioral Project been?

  • Are referrals to the project responded to, completed, and followed up in a timely manner?
  • How many admission holds were placed on Waiver Providers across the state at the direction of Mr. Feeney? 
  • How many survivors were tossed off the waiver by Mr. Feeney?
  • What has Mr. Feeney and the Project’s impact been on Medicaid dollars?
  • How many Medicaid dollars were spent based on the reasonable belief that Mr. Feeney was Dr. Feeney?
  • Would any Medicaid dollars been saved had Mr. Feeney not represented himself as Dr. Feeney?

Another letter to a DOH official way up the ladder is on its way and has been copied to a wide range of people. I have faith that the DOH will do the right thing. Mr. Feeney’s contract expires the 30th of this month. Were it to be renewed, or were some maneuver like awarding the contract to a company who would then hand leadership over to Mr. Feeney to happen, more folks would need to be taken to task.

It is hard enough living life with a brain injury, it is hard enough adjusting to the reality that a loved one has a brain injury, and it is no easy task providing quality services to those who live with a brain injury for providers who try to keep their companies afloat despite low reimbursement rates. To manage all these challenges only to find out one of the most influential entities in the state is not who they say they are is not only unjust, it’s immoral.

It’s Nothing Personal

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It seems some think my exposing a contract employee with the New York State Department of Health (DOH) for not having the college degrees he says  he has is something personal on my part. Wrong. Defining my action as something personal is a well-worn way of derailing advocates in the first place. Since the facts work against you, let’s say the advocate is on some personal vendetta and, if not a personal vendetta, off their rocker.

I am not off my rocker, at least not today (smile folks, there is nearly always room for humor), but my actions regarding Timothy J. Feeney are nothing personal.  In fact, it would be interesting to learn what, specifically, makes some think it is personal.  In other words, say it out loud folks, so we can all hear. Don’t be shy.

The facts of the matter are rather straightforward. Timothy J. Feeney presents himself as Dr. Feeney or Timothy J. Feeney PhD. He is neither. By his own admission, both his masters and his doctorate were issued by the now defunct Greenwich University, not to be confused with the prestigious University of Greenwich in England. Greenwich University was a non-accredited school, a diploma mill, that operated out of California and Hawaii in the 1990s before moving to Norfolk Island off the coast of Australia in 1998. Greenwich degrees are not recognized as valid anywhere in the United States, much less planet earth. Greenwich closed its doors in 2003.

Now to the question of why should this be a concern to all New Yorkers. First and foremost, when you are receiving health care in any form, you have a right to assume those providing the care are who they say they are. Moreover, if someone is going to make his or her living off of hard-earned taxpayer dollars, taxpayers have a right to assume they are who they say they are. This is not the case when it comes to Mr. Feeney. To make matters even worse, Mr. Feeney, in an unsolicited e-mail to readers of one of my blogs, said the DOH knew all along about the source of his bogus degrees.

Mr. Feeney is nearing the end of his third five-year contract with the state’s DOH as head of the Neurobehavioral Project which is arguably the most powerful influence over the implementation of the state’s Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Medicaid Waiver Program, in itself, a laudable presence.  The waiver provides services to brain injury survivors living in the community. However, it is anyone’s guess how many health care providers have had their doors closed by Mr. Feeney or had their ability to admit people into their program put on hold by Mr. Feeney and his staff. Moreover, one must ask how many survivors of brain injury have been denied waiver services or discharged from waiver services under the direction of Mr. Feeney, all under the pretense that he is, in fact, Dr. Feeney or, Timothy J. Feeney, PhD. Can you imagine being the mother or father of a child with brain injury and you acquiesce to Mr. Feeney’s directives only to find out later he misrepresented himself to you?

Then, of course, we come to the question of state taxpayer dollars. Several million dollars in state tax dollars have been earmarked for Mr. Feeney and his small staff over the years. His last contract alone provided for nearly $2 million in state tax dollars for salary and expenses.

Recently I sent a letter to DOH employee Patricia Greene-Gumson who, along with DOH employee Bruce Rosen, have been the two DOH employees closest to Mr. Feeney over the years, asking her to investigate the situation and to investigate why none of Mr. Feeney’s contracts require the head of the Neurobehavioral Project to have so much as a masters degree,  a fact that would lead some to suspect the contract of being jerry-rigged.  The letter was copied to Deputy DOH Commissioner Mark Kissinger, Ms. Gumson’s supervisor, and the Inspector General.

Feeney’s contract expires this September 30th. My hope is the DOH will not make the same mistake four contracts in a row.

Here’s the thing. When you live with a brain injury, as I do, or you are the mother or father of someone with a brain injury, or the husband or wife or sister or brother of someone with a brain injury, you have a right to expect those who are there to help you to be who they say they are. Anything short of that is unacceptable.