FAYETTEVILLE — Federal authorities are accusing a Rogers doctor and seven other people of engaging in a kidnapping conspiracy from 2018 through May 2022 at the Northwest Medical Center Behavioral Health Unit in Springdale.
U.S. marshals arrested Brian Hyatt, 53, on Saturday on a federal warrant. Hyatt, of Eris Avenue in Lowell, remained at the Washington County Detention Center on Monday under a federal hold with no bond set.
A federal grand jury indicted Hyatt along with the following individuals:
• Devon Talbert, 50, an advanced practice registered nurse.
• Lindsey Hess Goucher, 40, an advanced practice registered nurse.
• Miranda Newburn, 43, a registered nurse and former director of the behavioral unit.
• Robert Green, 35, former admissions and assessment referral coordinator at the behavioral unit.
• Georgette “Gigi” Rice, 58, a former mental health tech.
• Owen Benjamin, 29, a former mental health tech.
• Collyn Harlan, 31, a former mental health tech.
Rice, Green and Harlan were arrested Monday and remained at the Washington County Detention Center under federal holds with no bond set.
Specifically, the indictment accuses the people of conspiring to hold patients against their will using a variety of means. These included the unlawful administration of Haldol, Ativan and Thorazine as chemical restraints; force; threats; intimidation; and the denial of phone privileges, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“The Indictment alleges that these patients were held so that members of the conspiracy could bill for services that were not rendered and were not medically necessary,” the release states. “Finally, the Indictment alleges that the conspirators did not report patient abuse they participated in and witnessed as they were required to do.”
If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of life in prison and up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Additionally, a second count accuses a conspiracy to distribute Ativan, a Schedule IV controlled substance, without medical necessity between Hyatt and Talbert.
If convicted, both face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a year of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
The Office of the Arkansas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, FBI, DEA and the U.S Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General investigated the case. U.S. Attorney Kimberly D. Harris, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ben Wulff and Carly Marshall and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Leigh Patterson, of the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office, are prosecuting the case.
Hyatt was already facing two state counts of felony Medicaid fraud in Pulaski County Circuit Court. He pleaded not guilty in January 2024 and was released on $15,000 bond while awaiting trial. Hyatt had additional restrictions placed on his release after a couple of alcohol-related incidents in Rogers last year, including prohibition from drinking alcohol while awaiting trial.
Hyatt was found mentally fit to stand trial in January, but the defense wants to contest that finding. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson set a hearing for the afternoon of May 4.
An affidavit used to secure an arrest warrant for Hyatt stated the doctor billed Medicaid for high levels of care, but seldom actually treated patients.
The affidavit was filed by Gregory McKay, a senior special agent for the Medicaid Fraud Unit of the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office. Security footage and statements from eyewitnesses and former employees of the Northwest Medical Center’s Behavioral Health Unit in Springdale provide clear evidence Hyatt wasn’t treating patients at the level required to justify his billing to Medicaid, according to the affidavit.
“From Jan. 1, 2022, until April 29, 2022, Dr. Brian Hyatt and the staff that he trained and supervised submitted false Medicaid claims on Dr. Hyatt’s behalf,” the affidavit states.
McKay concluded, based on Medicaid guidelines, the therapy services shouldn’t have been billed by Hyatt.
Former employees told investigators they received little or no training from Hyatt, according to the affidavit. They also said they were directed to bill for levels of service that paid Hyatt the most money.
A confidential informant told investigators Hyatt was present in the unit for only short periods of time on the days he was scheduled to work, had little to no contact with patients and spent the time he was in the unit walking up and down the halls pushing a computer on wheels.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced in March 2023 the Northwest Arkansas Hospitals health system agreed to pay the state more than $1 million in connection with 246 Medicaid claims based on medical evaluations, diagnoses and supporting documents certified by Hyatt and nonphysician providers working under his control and supervision.
That settlement came after an audit by a state contractor, the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, found documentation provided for the claims “did not justify or support the medical necessity requirement for hospitalizations,” Griffin said in a news release announcing the settlement.
The Office of Medicaid Inspector General suspended all payments for Medicaid services to Hyatt, according to a Feb. 24, 2023, letter the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette obtained under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. The office determined there was a “credible allegation of fraud” against Hyatt.
Hyatt had been the medical director at Northwest Medical Center’s Behavioral Health Unit since January 2018. His contract with the medical center was “abruptly terminated” in May 2022, the affidavit in support of the Pulaski County arrest states.
He stepped down as chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board in March 2023, but kept his seat on the board until he resigned in May 2023. He denied being involved in any wrongdoing in his letter of resignation.
Hyatt has been the center of investigations by both state and federal authorities and the target of multiple civil lawsuits.