'I never thought of this happening to me': About 30 former Retreat employees attend session on unemployment

Last month’s sudden closure of Retreat at Lancaster left social worker Cynthia Cruz, 62, without a job and without health insurance to cover insulin and heart medicine.

“I’ve been working full time since 1978. I never thought of this happening to me,” said Cruz, who was recruited about 13 years ago to work for Ephrata-based Retreat, founding its equine therapy program. She learned she lost her insurance on July 1 when she went to fill a prescription and hasn’t been taking her medication since.

Cruz was among about 30 former Retreat workers who came to Eden Resort & Suites Crystal Ballroom in Manheim Township on Friday to find out about unemployment compensation, public health insurance and help finding jobs. The event was coordinated by PA CareerLink Lancaster County with the Department of Labor & Industry’s Rapid Response Team.

A combined 300 employees worked at the in-patient location at 1170 S. State St. in Ephrata Borough and the out-patient location at 333 S. 7th St. in Akron.

READ: Former Retreat workers lament loss of income and 'land of second chances'

The two locations were part of for-profit addiction and mental health treatment company Retreat Behavioral Health, which operated facilities in three states and shut down in the last week of June after CEO and founder Peter Schorr died by suicide June 21 in Palm Beach County, Florida. Scott Korogodsky, the company’s chief administrative officer, also died by suicide five days later, also in Palm Beach County.

With at least $30 million in debt and the subject of multiple lawsuits filed by creditors and owners, Retreat’s Lancaster locations were placed in receivership by a county judge on June 28. Receivership is a court-appointed process that allows a neutral third party to manage a company's assets and operations while litigation is pending.

Lenders are also seeking a receivership for Retreat’s Florida operation. A hearing on that matter is scheduled for later this month.

Cruz has applied for public health insurance but was told it could take a month. She worries about becoming medically bankrupt if she were to get injured and have to go to the emergency room.

“I keep thinking this is how people become homeless,” she said.

Back pay and other concerns

Several former Retreat employees, including behavioral tech Ben Gunzenhauser Jr., said they are also seeking help getting as much as four weeks of back pay.

Unemployment covers when someone is laid off, but it does not reimburse employees for any time they worked without pay. To get back pay, workers have to submit a complaint to the state online at lanc.news/wagecomplaint. A group of Florida employees is seeking a class action suit for back pay for violating; no hearings have been held on the suit to date.

It is not clear whether Retreat was paying its unemployment tax or other taxes. Former employees said their paychecks in May listed the typical deductions for federal withholding, Social Security and Medicare. But court documents revealed that the company had not been paying its health insurance.

Retreat owed $771,240 premium payment – $531,200 of which was past due as of May 11– on health care insurance for employees of its Pennsylvania and Florida entities, according to court documents. Fulton Bank has been ordered to release money for the premiums, though the money would only pay for insurance through the end of last month.

Christine Roggenbaum of CareerLink and Carrie McCullough, assistant workforce board director, who organized Friday’s event, said they don’t know if the company had paid its employment taxes.

Roggenbaum said she anticipated issues stemming from Retreat’s unexpected demise will be ongoing.

CareerLink supplied every attendee with a packet that included information on how to reach a social services hotline. McCullough recommended that even if people have filed for unemployment online that they speak with an employment case manager who can connect them to services while they seek employment.

Cruz said she was thankful for the session because she learned there are resources to help her find a job near where she lives in Ephrata.

Lorena Ayala, a receptionist for five years, said Retreat was more than a job and that it felt like a family.

“We did things to help people,” she said.

The collapse left employees like herself confused and frustrated because they did not understand the company’s financial situation.

A career fair with 8 to 10 employers from the region is scheduled for July 25 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at CareerLink, 1046 Manheim Pike in Manheim Township.