Connect with us

Rhode Island

Ashley Kalus, candidate for RI governor, seeks mediation with DOH

Published

on

Ashley Kalus, candidate for RI governor, seeks mediation with DOH


PROVIDENCE — A lawyer for Republican Ashley Kalus, the Rhode Island newcomer operating for governor, is in search of courtroom mediation of Kalus’s high-profile contract dispute with the McKee administration.

Courts spokesman Craig Berke confirmed on Friday that Stephen Del Sesto, a lawyer representing Kalus’s COVID-19 testing firm, has invoked a contract provision permitting the 2 warring sides to enchantment to the presiding justice of the Superior Court docket for mediation, although there is no such thing as a lawsuit pending at this level.

Berke mentioned Presiding Justice Alice Gibney assigned the matter to retired Decide Michael Silverstein, who has organized a primary convention for subsequent week.

The dispute facilities on the state’s resolution to chop quick the $7.9-million contract it had with Kalus’s firm to do COVID-19 testing at a number of websites, together with within the Westerly police station, and provides the work to different firms already working below state contracts.  

Advertisement

Days after the dispute reached a boiling level in mid-January, Kalus – who final referred to as Illinois house – registered to vote in Rhode Island for the primary time on the highway to saying her bid to interchange Democrat Dan McKee as governor.

Election 2022:‘Outsider’ Ashley Kalus launches GOP marketing campaign for RI governor

What we knoab:Gubernatorial candidate Ashley Kalus embroiled in dispute involving Westerly police, DOH

She has alleged unspecified “waste, fraud and abuse” and painted herself and her firm – Docs Check Facilities – because the sufferer of retaliation in opposition to a “whistleblower.”

“Each time I’ve reported noncompliance or high quality issues, you may have retaliated and defamed me,” Kalus wrote Kristine Campagna, the chief working officer for COVID operations on the Division of Well being, at 5:01 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 14, in one in all a number of emails obtained by The Journal.

Advertisement

“This can be a federal contract and what you may have accomplished to me is just not authorized,” Kalus wrote.

“Whistle blowers do have safety when citing problems with waste, fraud and abuse. I might counsel that you just not erase your cellphone in preparation for litigation as you need to have been informed months in the past as we complained,” she wrote in her e-mail.

There’s one other aspect of the story, nevertheless. 

As tensions rose, the Division of Well being requested Westerly police to maintain watch on Jan. 15-16 to verify there have been no end-of-contract disruptions – and in the end to assist get well gadgets faraway from the positioning that belonged to the alternative firm, MedTech.

Then-deputy state Well being Director Thomas McCarthy informed The Journal on Friday that Docs Check Facilities “was an incredible companion” with the state within the COVID vaccination marketing campaign.

Advertisement

He mentioned the state determined to not renew the stand-alone testing contract when it expired on Jan. 31, at a degree when the extremely transmissible Omicron variant was sweeping by means of the state and the demand for checks was excessive.

“We had been centered on guaranteeing that we had the very best expertise for Rhode Islanders getting examined, with the ability to get out and in shortly at their appointment time. We all know a number of the challenges we had with lengthy strains and doubtless a sub-optimal expertise at a few of our websites,” McCarthy mentioned.

Past that, he mentioned, “I feel you’ll be able to sort of get a way of the connection [between] the contract supervisor of the testing workforce and the seller.”

“That’s not essentially unusual,” he mentioned.”A few of it’s they’re making an attempt to decrease the competitors and we see that amongst totally different distributors.”

Inside RI politics:Cool Moose founder’s legacy stays in authorized limbo six years after his dying

Advertisement

McCarthy mentioned “what mattered most was efficiency, and that is what we had been utterly centered on.” 

Backside line, the choice to not prolong the six-month contract with Kalus’s firm – and at some websites, to chop it quick – was made “on the peak of the testing [demand] in Rhode Island” McCarthy mentioned. “We wished to make certain we had the very best distributors in place. … so it was seamless for Rhode Islanders. And that is precisely what the workforce did, eradicating all emotion from it.” 

The corporate owned by Kalus and her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Weizweig, is expressed this fashion within the state contract: “Covid Medical Options Illinois LLC dba Main & Quick Care Options LLV Docs Check Facilities” in Chicago, Illinois.

The mediation clause that Del Sesto invoked in his letter to the Superior Court docket this week says, partly: “The events shall share the mediator’s payment and any submitting charges equally … Agreements reached in mediation shall be enforceable as settlement agreements in any courtroom having jurisdiction thereof.”

It’s not solely clear what Kalus and her husband are in search of from the state.

Advertisement

Meet Nellie Gorbea:Her profession path rooted in her native Puerto Rico

Their contract was scheduled to finish on Jan. 31. There was a six-month renewal choice.

This a lot is thought; As a substitute of the $7.9 million anticipated by the contract, the state paid the corporate $6.7 million, in accordance with the Division of Administration.

Neither the Division of Well being nor the Division of Administration has responded to inquiries about how a lot roughly the state is paying the alternative firms – MedTech and Alert Ambulance – given the contract work that was taken away from Docs Check Facilities.

In one in all a collection of the pre-termination emails that got here to mild in latest days, Kalus wrote the RI Division of Well being’s Campagna, saying she wished to go to mediation instantly.

Advertisement

“Good religion? That’s actually wealthy,” Kalus wrote on Jan. 14, two days earlier than a alternative firm was scheduled to begin in Westerly.

“You barely have any actual expertise in drugs,” she wrote. “Have a doctor [who] understands the issues name us for those who consider it’s protected.” 



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Rhode Island

An appreciation of Joe Biden; RI’s underpaid doctors | Letters

Published

on

An appreciation of Joe Biden; RI’s underpaid doctors | Letters


Thank you, Joe Biden

Trump has learned that if he tells lies often enough and loudly enough, they will be believed.  He keeps repeating that Joe Biden has been a terrible president. 

In fact, President Biden has accomplished much.  He tackled the COVID crisis by helping hospitals get supplies, getting COVID vaccines distributed, making free testing kits available, sending checks to all Americans, and helping people return to work and students return to school.

He revitalized the U.S. participation in NATO and supported Ukraine vs. Putin. 

He recognized climate change and rejoined the rest of the world in battling its effects.

Advertisement

He appointed the first Black female Supreme Court justice.

He initiated projects to improve the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

He oversaw the U.S. economy’s rebound from the pandemic.

The list goes on.

But, best of all, he stopped the daily flow of lies that had been streaming from the White House.

Advertisement

Cindy Kaplan, West Warwick

Better compensation for doctors

What is happening to the health-care system in America?  The quality of care seems to be diminishing.  One of the reasons is the abysmally poor salaries we pay to our medical residents and fellows, doctors who have already spent years in medical school and are now honing their skills in hospitals throughout the country. 

The problem is especially acute in Rhode Island where these young doctors are paid an average of less than $70,000 per year at our hospitals (“Resident doctors make union bid,” News, Nov. 21).  

How can these doctors’ patients and hospital management expect them to excel while trying to survive on such meager wages for four to seven years of residency and fellowship, especially with the high cost of housing in Rhode Island and with their average quarter-million-dollar student loan debts?

The only thing that keeps at bay the hounds who are constantly calling for the nationalization of our health-care system is that our country provides the best medical care in the world.  Nationalization would destroy our system as it has done in the UK and Canada.  

Advertisement

Poor pay and overly arduous working conditions foisted upon residents and fellows in the U.S. will lead to fewer quality doctors entering the profession.  Nationalization will eventually follow.

I have opposed unions in the past, but when we pay our young doctors less than what we pay electrical and plumbing apprentices, something is terribly wrong. 

If we want our citizens to continue receiving the world’s best medical care, we better start properly compensating residents and fellows and allowing them a bit of time off.  Otherwise, they will enter other professions and the quality of medical care in America will deteriorate to that provided by nationalized health systems. 

Lonnie Barham, Warwick

Advertisement

Saving RI’s forests

Many environmentalists are concerned about the upcoming administration being filled with individuals who do not take climate change seriously. While, unfortunately, these next four years will probably take us backwards in the fight against climate change, we can still protect the environment here in Rhode Island.

Currently, Rhode Island is the only state in New England with no protected forests on state-owned land. Rare and endangered species are threatened due to their habitats being destroyed by DEM and solar developers through forest clear-cutting.

By joining the Save Rhode Island’s Forests Campaign, you can help in the effort to get legislation passed to create laws to finally protect our state forests and endangered species. In Rhode Island, you can save the environment.

Nathan Cornell, Warwick

The writer is president of the Rhode Island Old Growth Tree Society.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Rhode Island

Police recover watch belonging to Travis Kelce in Rhode Island following break-in of his mansion: report

Published

on

Police recover watch belonging to Travis Kelce in Rhode Island following break-in of his mansion: report


A watch belonging to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was reportedly found over 1,000 miles away from his Kansas mansion that was broken into last month.

The homes of Kelce and teammate Patrick Mahomes were burglarized last month shortly before one of their games — Kelce’s house is in Leawood, Kansas, while Mahomes’ residence is in nearby Belton, Missouri.

The watch was recovered in Providence, Rhode Island, where Kelce’s girlfriend, pop star Taylor Swift, also owns a home.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Advertisement

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce looks on during the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Oct. 20. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)

NFL players were cautioned by the league to be on high alert after the homes were broken into last month in a wave of burglaries reportedly tied to international organized crime. It was eventually revealed that $20,000 in cash was taken from Kelce’s home.

In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, the NFL issued a security alert to teams and the NFL Players Association, warning that professional athletes in different sports have become “increasingly targeted for burglaries by organized and skilled groups.”

Law enforcement officials say the suspects conduct extensive surveillance on their targets’ homes and have even posed as groundskeepers or joggers. Some have even attempted home deliveries. 

Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, left, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, right, wait to lead their team onto the field before the preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, on Aug. 10. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

49ERS’ BROCK PURDY, NICK BOSA RULED OUT FOR POTENTIAL SEASON-DEFINING GAME VS. PACKERS

Advertisement

The memo urged players to take special precautions, including installing home security systems. They were also encouraged not to post live updates of their comings and goings on social media or showcase their expensive items online. 

“Obviously, it’s frustrating, disappointing. I can’t get into too many of the details because the investigation is still ongoing, but, obviously, it’s something that you don’t want to happen to really anybody, but obviously yourself,” Mahomes said last week.

Travis Kelce vs Saints

Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on before kickoff of the game against the New Orleans Saints at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Oct. 7.  (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Chiefs suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday, falling to the Buffalo Bills after winning their first nine games.

Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.

Advertisement

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.





Source link

Continue Reading

Rhode Island

Travis Kelce’s watch found in Rhode Island after Kansas City mansion was burglarized of $20K in cash: report

Published

on

Travis Kelce’s watch found in Rhode Island after Kansas City mansion was burglarized of K in cash: report


Travis Kelce’s stolen watch was reportedly found in Providence, RI, this week after the NFL star’s mansion in Leawood, Kan., was burglarized last month.

Sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News Friday that a watch taken from Kelce’s residence — and not previously disclosed to the public — was recovered.

Details have yet to be revealed on what type of timepiece was stolen or how much it was worth.

Authorities reportedly recovered Travis Kelce’s stolen watch in Providence, RI. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s home in Leawood, Kan., was burglarized on Oct. 7. BACKGRID

Authorities previously shared that the unidentified criminals stole $20,000 cash from Kelce’s home. They did not specify whether any other items were taken at the time.

Advertisement

Sources told ABC News that they think the athlete’s home was specifically targeted — and thoroughly surveyed — before the Oct. 7 burglary.

Just two days before Kelce’s pad was broken into, burglars also raided the home of his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes.

The criminals reportedly stole $20,000 from the mansion. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Kelce’s teammate Patrick Mahomes’ house was also broken into just 48 hours before. Getty Images

Authorities have theorized the burglars may have targeted the athletes as their public football schedule reveals when they will be away from their residences.

“There is a concern about what happens if the athlete or his/her family members are present,” a security source told the outlet.

The insider shared that the burglars have gained access to Kelce and Mahomes’ houses by “posing as delivery men, maintenance workers or joggers to learn about residences, neighborhoods and security systems.”

Advertisement
Kelce was playing against the New Orleans Saints, as pictured here, at the time of the burglary. Getty Images
Authorities did not previously reveal a watch had been stolen from Kelce’s pad. AP

Captain Jason Ahring from the Leawood, Kan., Police Department told Page Six that they are not releasing any information pertaining to an open investigation and maintained they will not be commenting.

Meanwhile, a Providence Police Department Public Information Officer told Page Six that they do “not have any record or involvement related to this incident.”

Kelce, 35, has yet to address the crime, but Mahomes, 29, previously expressed how “disappointing” the violation was.

“I can’t get into too many details because the investigation is still ongoing, but it’s obviously something you don’t want to happen to anybody — and obviously yourself,” Mahomes said during a press conference earlier this month.

Mahomes previously called the crimes “disappointing.” Getty Images
Meanwhile, a source told Page Six that Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, was “thankful that no one was hurt.” Starface Photo/INSTARimages

Meanwhile, a source told Page Six that Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, was “thankful that no one was hurt and that neither of them were home during the robberies.”

Advertisement

Kelce’s home was broken into around 7:30 p.m. local time on Oct. 7 – just 15 minutes before his team kicked off against the New Orleans Saints.

Meanwhile, Mahomes’ mansion was burglarized while he was celebrating Kelce’s 35th birthday on Oct. 5.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending