The Oxford Center located in Detroit is under fire following the hyperbaric chamber explosion that took the life of five-year-old Thomas Cooper on Friday, January 31. However, since the incident took place, many details surrounding the health provider have surfaced, revealing a problematic history with a fraudster employer.
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According to the Daily Mail, the Oxford Center Brighton, Michigan location, hired Kimberly Casey Coden-Diskin back in 2018. Coden was a convicted felon, but she was hired regardless. The Chief Executive Tami Peterson gave Coden a chance to redeem herself, stemming from her Christian beliefs.
Years before her hiring, Coden was convicted of larceny and identity theft. She stole thousands of dollars from her mother's cousin and stole jewelry from her mother-in-law. Moreover, she stole her own mother's identity to open credit cards, further stealing money. After pleading no contest, she was sentenced to two years probation after spending a single day in jail.
A Hired Fraud
Coden ended up working at the Oxford Center in Michigan as a director of services for three years. She helped develop programs to help autistic children. However, unbeknownst to the health provider's higher-ups, especially Peterson, Coden was not only a convicted felon but also a fraudster.
Kimberly Casey Coden-Diskin faked her credentials and used a certification number from a real health professional to carry out her fraud. Moreover, according to the outlet, not only did Oxford Center eventually admit to knowing about Coden's past convictions, but it also admitted to knowing she had faked her credentials and qualifications.
Worst of all, this was not the first time that Kimberly Casey Coden-Diskin had faked her credentials. She was already blacklisted as a fake practitioner after using Dr. Kimberly Peck's real certification number multiple times. Thanks to her deceit, Coden was able to work for three months at Centria Health Care in 2016. She even started her own health organization, Children's Alliance of Metro Detroit.
As a result of her hiring, Coden treated several autistic children with methods that, regrettably, impacted negatively on their progress.
Coden eventually pleaded guilty to 16 counts of unauthorized practice of a health profession and two counts of identity theft, according to MLive. She also admitted to intimidating one witness to prevent testimony. On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, she was sentenced to four to seven and a half years in prison.
