The Centro terapia riabilitativa based in Pieve Modolena, a private outpatient clinic affiliated with the national health service, is going through a phase of crisis and change. Burdened by debts, for which a negotiated resolution of the crisis was recently sought in court, the Ctr has seen a change in governance. The facility on Via Fratelli Cervi was founded in 1997 by Roberto Citarella, 61, from Modena, a doctor specializing in general surgery, together with about fifteen partners. For the last twenty years he has been the medical director and, since 2015, also the administrator. However, he no longer holds these positions, although he remains a 52% partner.
On the difficulties and new steps, Citarella, assisted by the lawyer Edoardo Salsi, tells us his version “to clarify”. The economic difficulties arose at the time of Covid: “During the lockdown, about forty doctors worked for the CTR. At that time we lost 80% of the work, because we could only do emergency treatments, then 50-60% in the remaining period of the emergency. The problems were mainly financial. But the debts – the doctor points out – have always been paid in installments: we cannot have contracts with the ASL, if there is no installment plan towards the Treasury”. Citarella speaks of a ‘red’ “yes, significant, but not equal to 6 million”. And of difficult choices: “We had to pay for the headquarters, the materials, the staff. The CTR is an energy-intensive structure: just think that there are two MRIs. In hindsight, I should have sent the workers home and cut expenses”.
In light of the delicate situation, Citarella says he decided to step back as administrator, remaining only as medical director: “In February I relied on a firm of accountants who had been recommended to me as experts in corporate recovery, to help me manage the company and debts, so that I could dedicate myself solely to my medical profession. These consultants recommended the appointment of Umberto Canovese”, an accountant from Padua, “as the new administrator, a position he has held since April 1st. Canovese made the contract with them, not me”. On the administrative level, there has been a change: “I don’t know what the new governance established in March did. When I left, I had no disputes with the staff. There were debts, but we were in a position to be able to work”. Citarella was recently removed as medical director: “I received a communication via certified email on July 19th, at Canovese’s one-way choice”. This role was taken over by the doctor Pietro Ragni, who worked for a long time at the ASL and is now retired. The new governance has requested and obtained in recent days in court a negotiated resolution of the crisis: this means that the company has presented a recovery plan, but has requested countermeasures so that the assets are not attacked by creditors.
In the case of the CTR, there was also the problem of rent arrears: the eviction had been validated and had become enforceable, but now, after the transition, an extension has been obtained. Another open question, the payment of fees to doctors: “During my governance, no one has ever been left completely without payment. And I have never had any disputes with them. It is true that payments could be delayed, based on economic availability, but as long as I managed the staff the situation was calm. Then everyone knows that delayed payments are normal, especially under the convention regime: between 2023 and 2024, the times, which depend on the State, have been extended. The problems were due to the fact that my figure, who they trust, has passed away”. Another issue concerns a fine addressed by the Court of Auditors to the CTR and to the then administrator Citarella. After carrying out checks, the ASL deemed that it had paid, based on the requests received from the Pieve company, higher amounts than those due, relating to the period 2017-2019, for a value of 6,500 euros.
“Since it was a small amount, there was no point in starting a dispute, and we decided to pay it. But we found obstructionism in the new administrator Canovese who did not want to pay it, even if the failure to pay could have put the agreement with the Ausl at risk”. On this matter, a criminal proceeding is also open in which Citarella, in his role as administrator, is accused of fraud against the State for approximately 6,500 euros, by carrying out rehabilitation treatments that were not in compliance, i.e. group and not individual services.
The trial will begin on September 10 before Judge Francesca Piergallini: “We chose the ordinary procedure – says lawyer Salsi – because we intend to explain the treatment methods, the techniques and the difference between individual and group services. We want to point out that everything started from a legitimate check by the ASL, and that it is not true that the documents of the Prosecutor’s Office were included in the Court of Auditors’ file. And that there are no criminal proceedings for personal injury against Citarella”. The words of the founder of the CTR are full of bitterness: “Unfortunately, the new management wanted to remove me from the role of health director and made choices that contradict our vision”.