According to a Feb. 27 report by BusinessDen, the center, known as TUCC, abruptly closed last summer as the first step in the bankruptcy process. One patient reportedly wrote in a Yelp review that their appointment was “cancelled without warning.” An undated message on TUCC’s website reads:
“After 18 years of dedicated service to the Denver community, we are announcing the closure of The Urology Surgery Center of Colorado. It has truly been a privilege to care for you and your families during this time.”
According to the report, just two weeks before filing for bankruptcy TUCC and its former CEO John Tillett, MD, were sued by Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Ark Data Centers, a data security company that stored TUCC’s data. The lawsuit seeks $1 million in unpaid bills and accuses Dr. Tillet and the company of perjury and fraud, according to the report.
Ark Data claims that it informed TUCC last summer of a $310,000 unpaid invoice, to which TUCC responded that it would seek criminal charges against the company if it cut off access to patient data, alleging this would violate HIPAA. However, Ark Data said in its lawsuit that TUCC made these threats despite having not paid for its data storage for 10 months.
In August, Ark Data claimed it began to question whether TUCC was still in operation. Ark Data asked Dr. Tillett, who was also medical director of the center, to certify that TUCC was still in operation, which he did, according to the report.
TUCC reports about $1 million of debt in its bankruptcy filing, almost all of which is owed to vendors, including $310,000 currently allotted to Ark Data.
Becker’s has reached out to TUCC and Ark Data and will update this article if more information becomes available.
