Two executives for a company that operates rehab facilities across the US committed suicide after they ran out of cash, leaving at least one location in a state of chaos, according to reports.
Hundreds of employees of Retreat Behavioral Health, which operates in Florida, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, were thrown out of work after the suicides of CEO Peter Schorr and Chief Administrative Officer Scott Korogodsky, which occurred within five days of each other.
At least one center, in Palm Springs, Fla., descended into chaos this week when patients were told to leave, then were allowed back in — only to break into nursing stations to get narcotics, while staffers emptied refrigerators full of food, a nurse told WPTV.
The patients then began fighting with staffers who were not able to de-escalate the situation, the outlet reported.
Retreat Behavioral Health abruptly closed the facility last week. About 100 mental health and substance use patients were initially told to pack up and leave, including 30 without a place to go.
Other centers in Lancaster County, Penn., and New Haven, Conn., also closed.
The two executives had reportedly been battling serious financial problems at the company for months, several news outlets reported.
Korogodsky took control of the company after Schorr committed suicide at his Delray Beach, Fla. home on June 21, according to LancasterOnline.
The next day, Korogodsky sent an email to staffers, writing, “We are committed to ensuring the future of retreat.”
But five days after Schorr died, Korogodsky also killed himself himself, according to the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Alexander Hoinsky, the company’s chief financial officer, said the Retreat company had been basically insolvent for a year.
Company executives finally just stopped taking his calls, Hoinsky told WPTV.
“I left messages and emails [and] laid out what was going to go forward. Basically, they did not want to hear it,” Hoinsky said. “Here’s the facts, the company ran out of cash. Revenue dropped drastically and they didn’t adjust costs.”
Staffers at the Palm Springs Center still don’t know if they will be getting their paychecks for their last three weeks of work.
“I don’t know what days I was scheduled for,” the nurse at the Palm Springs center said. “I just decided to show up. I just wanted to be there. Because when they said everybody was going to be discharged it just sounded like such a huge task.”
Schorr was hit with a lawsuit in Palm Beach County in January alleging he did not return a $50,000 deposit for a failed property sale. A New York lawsuit seeks more than $5 million from the company that owns Retreat for “numerous defaults” on a loan, dating back to 2018.
“I’m sure there’s more to the story, but from the employees that I spoke with most everybody that was there did find safe and supportive discharge options,” said Lissa Franklin, the Vice President of Southeast Florida Recovery Advocates (SEFRA) who’s worked closely with the Retreat at Palm Beach over the years.
“It’s very sad what happened to the Retreat. From my experience. it was a great program. They always helped everyone in the community. They treated everybody with compassion and kindness.”
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.