Local ear nose throat (ENT) Dr. Oliver Jenkins was convicted on fraud charges in Ohio March 17 and has closed his office here.
Dr. Jenkins practiced with the Wayne SJC Medical Group, which offered services at the Pierce County Health Center on Carter Avenue in Blackshear.
Dr. Jenkins’ physician privileges at Wayne Memorial Hospital in Jesup have been revoked, according to Wayne Memorial CEO/Administrator Joe Ierardi.
“We are saddened by this unfortunate situation,” Ierardi said. “He’s a fantastic physician, and he has great clinical outcomes.”
Ierardi said that Jenkins has been well-thought-of by his fellow physicians and staff members since his arrival here in 2019 and that patients have reported excellent care. He also noted that the charges in Ohio have nothing to do with his ENT (ear, nose and throat) medical practice in Southeast Georgia.
According to a report from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Ohio, a federal jury convicted Jenkins and his wife, Sherry-Ann Jenkins, of “conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and health care fraud on Friday, March 17, in Toledo, Ohio, following a two-week trial before Judge Jack Zouhary.”
The announcement came from First Assistant United States Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler, the report said.
Ierardi said that, when Jenkins was being recruited, he had been transparent about suits filed against his practice in Ohio and provided documents stating that the suits had been dismissed by a judge.
According to Georgia Medical Board documents online at healthgrades.com, Jenkins was indicted in May of 2020 by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on the conspiracy and fraud charges.
The Sept. 15, 2021, interim order said, “Respondent’s criminal charges are still pending; the Respondent strongly denies the validity of those charges and is fully contesting them through the applicable legal process.”
The board’s order limited Jenkins’ license to practice in Georgia to “the provision of otolaryngology (ENT) services until resolution of the criminal charges pending.”
The Ohio U.S. Attorney’s Office report from Daniel Ball said, “According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Dr. Oliver Jenkins, who was an Ear, Nose, and Throat M.D. at the Toledo Clinic, and his wife, Sherry-Ann Jenkins, who had a Ph.D. but was not licensed to practice medicine in Ohio, started a new business called the ‘The Toledo Clinic Cognitive Center.’ The Jenkinses represented to the Toledo Clinic that patients suspected of cognitive disorders, particularly dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, could come to the Cognitive Center for neurocognitive testing, diagnosis, treatment, and referrals, and that Sherry-Ann Jenkins would administer the neurocognitive testing under the supervision of Dr. Oliver Jenkins.”
The report said that Jenkins and his wife told patients that Dr. Jenkins “would make a diagnosis, and provide medical treatment, or a referral. Instead, the Jenkinses engaged in a scheme to defraud. Dr. Oliver Jenkins never saw or treated patients at the Cognitive Center. Sherry-Ann Jenkins ordered PET scans of patients’ brains, interpreted the scans, diagnosed patients, including a college-aged student, with Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia, or other impairments, recommended patients take coconut oil to improve memory, and instructed certain patients to see her every 3-6 weeks for the rest of their lives.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office report further said that patients and health care benefits programs were billed for these services through Jenkins’ billing number.
“This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Toledo, Ohio, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General in Cleveland, Ohio, the Ohio Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the Ohio State Medical Board. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian McDonough and Robert Melching,” the report said.
John Eden of The Press-Sentinel, Jesup and The Sentinel-Tribune of Bowling Green, Ohio, contributed to this report.
