Impeli Health, former CEO plead ‘not guilty’ to Decatur Co. hospital theft charges
DECATURVILLE, Tenn. — Representatives for Kelly Codega and Impeli Health appeared in Decatur County Circuit Court Tuesday morning.
They both pleaded “not guilty” to charges of theft over $60,000, and violation of the Tennessee Personal and Commercial Computer Act of 2003, over $60,000.
The allegations first came out in April of 2020, when the comptroller originally audited Decatur County and found issues with the hospital two years prior, with Kelly Codega as CEO of Impeli Health.
“Impeli Health was originally hired to manage the hospital in late 2017,” said Amber Shaw, attorney for Impeli Health.
“We don’t know what she did wrong,” Codega’s attorney, Mark Donahoe said. “This is a theft case, what she’s charged with.”
The indictment says Codega and Impeli Health stole over $150,000 from the University of Tennessee not once, but twice — in April and May of 2018.
The comptroller’s office says they got the money through a bank error and used it to pay hospital expenses.
Both attorneys agreed some sort of misconduct was going on at the hospital. They don’t believe it was their clients.
“The case is based in theft, however we’re not sure Impeli had anything to do with anything that is going on in the case,” Shaw said. “In fact, we do believe that although there were some things that occurred that were improper at the hospital, Impeli Health should be cleared of any allegations.”
“I think there’s been some wrongdoing in the case, just not by Ms. Codega, and we intend to prove who actually did it,” Donahoe said.
The comptroller’s report says the hospital continued to have trouble after Progressive Health took over in September of 2018, eventually closing down in 2020.
The comptroller also says the Decatur County Governement is partially to blame for many of the issues, because they did not properly investigate what was going on.
This was the initial hearing. Both Codega and Impeli Health will appear back in court next year.
Click here for our initial coverage of this incident, including the full investigative report and indictment.
