Leading Addiction Recovery Reformer Was on the Payroll of a Rehab Center

HAND IN THE TILL –

Sept 27, 2021 – Testifying under a grant of immunity from prosecution, Way said that for seven years, he had been paid $55,000 annually as a consultant for Southwest Nu-Stop, a Kingsessing-based treatment center that state prosecutors say profited by trapping hundreds of people struggling with addictions in dangerous living conditions and substandard treatment. All the while, Way acknowledged, his nonprofit was also giving thousands of taxpayer dollars to Southwest each year — money from the city to help improve recovery residences across Philadelphia. Southwest was the only organization that received PARR grants during the period, according to its financial reports.

Prompted by the grand jury’s findings, Attorney General Josh Shapiro in June charged Southwest Nu-Stop and its founder, Dr. Lloyd Reid, with Medicaid fraud and paying illegal kickbacks to recovery-home operators. Way has not been charged — or even accused — of wrongdoing; state investigators credit him with helping them unravel Southwest’s alleged crimes.