Our success depends largely upon the services of our senior management team and other key employees. We rely on our leadership team in the areas of operations, provision of medical services, information technology and security, marketing, and general and administrative functions. Since we became a public company, there have been changes in our executive management team resulting from the hiring or departure of executives. Effective January 1, 2022, our Board of Directors elevated Patrick Blair, then President of the Company, to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer to replace Maureen Hewitt, our former Chief Executive Officer, who resigned effective on that same date. Even though Mr. Blair has had a long and successful career in healthcare, joining the Company from BAYADA Home Health Care, where he was the Group President responsible for overall quality and financial performance of the Home Health, Hospice and Personal Care businesses, failure to execute a smooth transition could affect the execution of our business strategy and relationships with regulators and other stakeholders. In addition, our employment agreements with our executive officers and other key personnel do not require them to continue to work for us for any specified period and, therefore, they could terminate their employment with us at any time. The loss, whether as a result of voluntary termination or illness, of one or more of the members of our senior management team, or other key employees, could harm our business. Changes in our executive management team may also cause disruptions in, and harm to, our business.
Risks Related to Regulation
We face inspections, reviews, audits and investigations under federal and state government programs and contracts. These audits require corrective actions and have resulted in adverse findings that have negatively affected and may continue to affect our business, including our results of operations, liquidity, financial condition and reputation.
As a result of our PACE contracts with CMS and state government agencies, state licenses, and participation in Medicaid, we are routinely subject to, and will continue to be subject to, various governmental inspections, reviews, audits, requests for information and investigations to verify our compliance with requirements of these programs and applicable laws and regulations, assess the quality of the services we are providing to our participants, and evaluate the accuracy of the risk adjustment data we have submitted to the government.
On May 26, 2021, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (“HCPF”) and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (“CDPHE”) initiated a joint audit of our Colorado PACE centers, and on June 21, 2021, CMS also initiated a separate focused desk audit of our Colorado PACE program. We received preliminary findings from CMS and HCPF/CDPHE in July 2021, followed by validation results in October 2021. In conjunction with providing validation results, the agencies referred our case to the Compliance and Enforcement Division of CMS for review and possible further action. Effective December 23, 2021, CMS suspended new enrollments at the Company’s Colorado centers, based on deficiencies detected in the joint audit related to participant quality of care. The suspension will remain in effect until CMS determines that we have remediated the deficiencies to their satisfaction. Effective on the same date, HCPF also determined to impose sanctions and suspended new enrollments at the Company’s Colorado centers identifying certain deficiencies specific to Medicaid. In addition, as a result of their specific findings, CDPHE mandated that we retain a consultant for a period of 12 months to oversee our remediation efforts, and issued a $10,000 penalty, which we have paid. On January 17, 2022 and February 5, 2022, we submitted a CAP to each of CDPHE and CMS, respectively. A separate CAP for HCPF is due on February 22, 2022. We cannot guarantee that these agencies will accept our CAPs, that if accepted, we will be able to implement the CAPs, or that we will be able to remedy the deficiencies specified by each of the agencies. In addition, although these agencies coordinate many of the actions taken with respect to these audits, they each have separate mandates and are not obligated to act together or reach the same decisions. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the agencies will not separately request further actions or impose additional separate sanctions.
On May 10, 2021, CMS began a routine, scheduled audit of our Sacramento, California center. On September 17, 2021, we were notified that CMS had determined to suspend new enrollments at our Sacramento center based on deficiencies detected in the audit related to participant quality of care, and on September 30, 2021, we were further notified that the Department of Health Care Services (“DHCS”) of the State of California had reached the same determination. The suspension will remain in effect until CMS and DHCS determine that we have remediated the deficiencies to their satisfaction. We submitted a CAP on October 15, 2021, which has been accepted by both CMS