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Cities audit records handled by SAMIS By GREG STILES The cities of Ashland, Grants Pass and Klamath Falls have severed their relationship with the workers compensation administrator SAMIS Inc., following the February arrest of its chief executive, Suzanne Crawford. All three municipalities have switched to a Portland third-party administrator and are auditing their financial records. "It's unsettling when people you trust are accused of crimes," said Grants Pass City Attorney Ulys Stapleton. One longtime SAMIS client, Naumes Inc., has seen no discrepancies and is sticking by the company. Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services records show SAMIS Inc. had provided third-party administration of worker compensation claims for 20 clients, including seven public entities. Clients provide money for a trust fund, out of which SAMIS would pay claims. After paying the claims, the company would then bill customers for the amount of claims to restore the account to 100 percent. Ashland's trust account managed by SAMIS totaled $20,000. Grants Pass' fund was $5,000 and Klamath Falls' was $7,500. "One of the things that was a little confusing, was that some of these people (medical practitioners and attorneys) haven't been paid for some time," Stapleton said. "The thought crossed my mind 'Why didn't we get calls from people who we're not getting paid from the third-party administrator?' That would've alerted us to some of these issues. We didn't receive any of these calls. I'm wondering why people were hanging out so long." Crawford, 54, formerly known as Suzanne Worthington, was arrested by Medford police on Feb. 19 on a charge of first-degree aggravated theft, which involves a loss of at least $10,000. She was jailed and released the same day. On Wednesday, one of SAMIS private clients, Sherm's Thunderbird Market Inc., filed a $150,000 suit, claiming its trust funds had been misappropriated and that the company had sent invoices for expenses already paid by the grocer. Crawford has been at SAMIS' office at 2594 E. Barnett Rd., at times since then but has not responded to repeated phone calls. Neither have messages to her attorney, Carl Caplan, been returned. Stapleton said there were checks found in a drawer "ready to be sent, but not sent to doctors, therapists and attorneys from as far back as September of 2000." "I know there is no money backing them," Stapleton said. "We were actually lucky that our retention level was relatively small. What we're hoping is that there's a bond - insurance coverage - we'll be able to tap into. After that's exhausted - or if it doesn't exist - we're a small cog in a great big wheel." All three municipalities have switched handling of worker compensation administration to Pinnacle Risk Management Services of Portland The city of Medford has not used SAMIS for workers' compensation claims. Medford has contracted with the State Accident Insurance Fund since 1920, said Bob Caulkins, who oversees risk management for the city. Jackson County Administrator Sue Slack said the county had dropped its relationship with SAMIS in the summer of 2000, when it obtained what was considered a more cost-effective deal with Johnson and Culbertson of Portland. In the meantime, Ashland, Grants Pass and Klamath Falls - among other current and former SAMIS clients - are reviewing records. "I guess we would say we're flabbergasted," Ashland city attorney Paul Nolte said. "We're going over the bank records and loss runs to determine what, if anything, is missing." Ashland Finance Director Lee Tuneberg said switching from SAMIS has taken about 20 to 30 hours of his time. Checking records will be more costly. "There is proof-positive that we've had exposure," Tuneberg said. "But we don't know if we've been taken advantage of. It will take a couple of weeks to work through an audit. "This is not something we have people sitting around waiting to do. My department runs pretty skinny on staffing. Dropping everything is pretty difficult and we're going to end up paying overtime to review the files." At least one client, Naumes Inc., is standing behind SAMIS and Crawford. "We've been with them forever, as long as we've been self-insured here in Oregon and for a lesser time in California and Washington," said Sue Naumes, Naumes Inc. Secretary-Treasurer. "We had a long and positive relationship with them. "We have not canceled our contract and certainly seen nothing in our accounts that would make us suspicious in any way." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.