[T]he drug testing company that sold after settling a Medicaid fraud case has rebranded as Aspenti Health and completed its partnership with the University of Vermont Health Network.
The for-profit company was formerly called Burlington Labs. It provided urine testing for people in recovery, including people who needed to be tested as part of a parole program.
In 2015, Burlington Labs had nearly 140 workers and served more than 2,000 Vermonters. Charlotte Lyman, a spokesperson representing Aspenti Health, said the company would continue the longstanding mission of Burlington Labs to employ people in recovery from substance use disorder.
The new company started taking shape in August, when a group of investors, including the hospital system, formed to take over Burlington Labs when the attorney general’s office said the company owed more than $6 million for Medicaid fraud.
The acquisition was finalized in January, according to Lyman. The transition to the new leadership team is now complete.
The UVM Health Network owns 18.18 percent of the company, a spokesperson said.
Investors settled with the attorney general in October and agreed the company would pay $6.75 million for allegedly overbilling the state. The lead investor, James Crook Jr., has said previously that he thought the previous owners made good faith mistakes in billing.
“The work the organization did to provide support and resources in the face of the current opioid crisis was vital, and we felt strongly that their work should continue,” Crook said in a news release. He is now the chair of the board of Aspenti Health.
“Aspenti Health will build upon the foundation laid by Burlington Labs and will continue working to enrich the lives of those suffering from substance use disorder through diagnostic science and compassionate care,” he said.
Lyman said the company’s new name comes from a combination of the aspen tree, which lives communally and is “symbolic of clarity of purpose,” and the musical note ti, which is “the seventh note and leading tone on the musical scale.”
Dr. Jill Warrington, a pathologist at the UVM Medical Center, says on the new website: “I believe that the University of Vermont Health Network and Aspenti Health partnership will have a lasting impact on the lives of patients with substance use disorders, affected families, and our communities.”
