Department of Health, Department of Health Facilities, and Department of Human Services

​The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) has petitioned the Raleigh County Circuit Court for an injunction to close Coal Country Clinic in Daniels, West Virginia. This action is a result of the clinic’s failure to meet chronic pain management clinic licensure requirements and noncompliance with prior directives to cease operations.

The Coal Country Clinic, operated by Dr. Michael Kostenko, was first ordered to close on July 6, 2015, after an inspection which found incomplete record keeping with little documentation of patient diagnosis or assessment.  On August 13, 2015, DHHR’s Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification conducted an on-site inspection and found the clinic did not cease operating as ordered. Coal Country Clinic was ordered to be closed a second time and assessed civil money penalties for failure to follow the Department’s initial order. 

“It is critically important that we enforce the pain clinic legislation to the extent the law allows,” said DHHR Cabinet Secretary Karen L. Bowling.  “It is our obligation to ensure that providers meet the appropriate standards defined by this law.”

DHHR filed a petition for preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order in the Raleigh County Circuit Court on November 6, 2015. A hearing on the preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for November 23, 2015, before Judge Burnside.