Colfax County has filed a Civil Suit in 8th Judicial District Court, seeking damages from Roadrunner Health Services (RHS) of Albuquerque and former Colfax County Manager Mary Lou Kern.
Roadrunner was contracted by the County to provide medical and mental health services for detainees and inmates of the Vigil-Maldonado Detention Center beginning July 1, 2018 for $259,904 for the first year and a total of almost $1.1 million for the four one-year options of the contract ending on June 30, 2022.
According to the complaint filed on 12/29/22, Kern circumvented the normal invoice approval process and because of this, RHS was consistently overpaid in the amount of $605,654. According to the complaint, part of the overpayments were the result of; pharmacy services provided to a different county, office supplies and software that were to be supplied by RHS, insurance premiums that were the responsibility of RHS and not the County, medical services provided to an unnamed County employee and miscellaneous expenses of a personal nature.
The complaint goes on further to allege that Kern misrepresented to the Commission that the County was permitted by the federal CARES Act to make insurance premium payments to government officials and contractors. And because of that, premium payments in excess of $18,000 were made to five RHS employees including CEO David Montoya. When asked to repay the premiums, four of the five refused.
The suit continues to say that after the resignation of Kern on 2/28/22, she was listed by RHS as its CFO and has written letters of recommendation on its behalf. In April of 2022, Colfax County requested backup documentation to justify invoices submitted to the County. RHS refused and on May 3 pulled all of its employees from VMDC in violation of the contract.
The suit filed by the firm of Mason & Isaacson of Gallup, NM on behalf of Colfax County asks for compensatory and punitive damages for reasons: 1- Breach of contract by RHS and; 2- Breach of Contract by Kern; 3- Negligence by RHS in failing to properly screen and supervise inmate Leland Ferrill which resulted in his death on or about July 13, 2021; 4 – Violations of the Unfair Practices Act by RHS; 5- Fraud by both RHS and Kern; and asks for indemnification from both RHS and Kern including attorneys fees and other and further relief as may be proper.
KRTN also received a statement from current Colfax County Manager Monte Gore.
Raton, New Mexico (1/11, 2023)
For Immediate Release
Consistent with the decision made by the New Mexico State Ethics Commission and pending investigations by the New Mexico State Auditor and New Mexico Attorney General, the Colfax County Commission filed its civil action against Roadrunner Health Services, LLC, and a former County Manager, Mary Lou Kern to seek damages based on breach of contract, negligence, violation of the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act and Fraud as well as indemnifications on December 29, 2022. See Board of Commissioners of Colfax County v. Roadrunner Health Services, LLC and Mary Lou Kern, individual, New Mexico Eighth Judicial District Court, D-809-CV-2022-00173 available at https://caselookup.nmcourts.gov/caselookup/app
The Complaint was filed by the independent third-party law firm, Mason & Isaacson, P.A. contracted by the County. The Colfax County Commission hereby reiterates that it shall continue to seek justice and recover damages made by Roadrunner Health Services and Ms. Kern and to uphold the public trust.
