Here's the tale of a New England psychiatrist and advocate for rural and veteran's health, who has settled a series of claims and counterclaims with the federal government.
William Weeks, MD, a professor known for his expertise in rural healthcare, has agreed to leave the Veterans Administration and will receive a settlement in excess of $469,000 following his acquittal on federal charges of financial improprieties last month.
Weeks, a Department of Veterans Affairs psychiatrist for 18 years and a Dartmouth College professor, was accused of directing federal research funds to his personal accounts "while acting as both a VA representative and as Dartmouth's principal investigator" on five contracts totaling $1.5 million, according to the Associated Press.
A report in the Boston Globe last April described the prosecution's case: "Taking advantage of a policy that lets Dartmouth researchers keep surplus contract funds in personal faculty accounts, Weeks allegedly kept secret from his VA bosses the deal he had struck with Dartmouth to get the leftover funds. He hired fewer people than originally planned to do the work and at lower rates, and more than $567,000 was deposited into an account in his name at Dartmouth."
Weeks pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Robert O'Neill, argued that Weeks operated within Dartmouth's rules.
In April a jury in U.S. District Court in Vermont returned not guilty verdicts on five counts of violating federal conflict-of-interest laws.
Weeks has long been an advocate for rural veterans, saying in 2004, "We need to think about veterans who live in rural settings as a special population, and we need to carefully consider their needs when designing healthcare delivery systems."
As a researcher, he found that rural veterans are in poorer health than their urban and suburban counterparts. But he said he "didn't know if that was a rural veteran issue or a rural issue," according to a 2006 article published in a Dartmouth publication. A 2009 study he published in Health Services Research found that VA healthcare users get most of their medical care from non-VA providers. Working-age VA users have less insurance coverage and rely more on VA care if they live in rural areas.
According to his bio on the website of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Weeks, who is working as an associate professor of psychiatry and of community and family medicine, "directs the VA Quality Scholars Fellowship Program, the Veterans' Rural Health Initiative, and the VA Outcomes Group Research Enhancement Award Program. His research interests lie in business and economic aspects of health services delivery, particularly as they relate to physician education, veterans who live in rural settings, and the quality and safety of healthcare."
As part of the settlement, Weeks will also pay the United States $47,500 to settle civil claims the government filed against him for conflict of interest and filing false claims.