Los Angeles Times
February 15, 1986
PSYCHIATRIST’S PRIVILEGES REVOKED AT HILLCREST
By David Smollar and Daniel M. Weintraub

— Excerpt

Federal health authorities this week revoked the Medicare privileges of a psychiatrist in conjunction with its three-year halt of Medicare funds for the county’s Hillcrest mental hospital, where the physician worked, a federal spokeswoman said Friday.

The county was in the process of terminating the Medicare privileges of Dr. Joseph M. Chung when federal action was decided Jan. 22, county spokesman Robert Lerner said Friday. Chung’s last day as a county employee was Jan. 30, and he had been removed from direct patient care at the hospital Oct. 1 and reassigned, Lerner said.

Effective Tuesday, Chung was barred for three years from receiving reimbursements from federal Medicare insurance for patients who qualify for the program by action of the inspector general of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Susan Bibisi, a department spokeswoman, said Friday…