National Medical Enterprises said Tuesday that Norman...

National Medical Enterprises said Tuesday that Norman A. Zober, head of its Specialty Hospital Group, is taking a “leave of absence” after federal investigations in alleged fraudulent billing at its psychiatric hospitals.

“It was important for that particular division to make a fresh start,” said David Olson, spokesman for the Santa Monica-based concern.

Named to succeed Zober was Michael H. Focht Sr., who took on the newly created post of senior executive vice president, director of operations. He will oversee hospitals owned by Psychiatric Institutes of America, a subsidiary of NME’s Specialty Hospital Group, as well as NME’s Hospital Group, Recovery Centers of America and Rehab Hospital Services Corp.

Some of the PIA hospitals are being investigated by federal authorities in Texas, New Jersey and Florida.

PIA hospitals are also being investigated by the Texas attorney general for allegedly paying “bounties” for patient referrals and for keeping patients in psychiatric hospitals longer than necessary to milk their insurance.

Dr. Duard Bok, formerly medical director of chemical dependency programs at PIA’s Psychiatric Institute of Ft. Worth, filed a lawsuit in August claiming that the hospital threatened to fire hospital administrators “who do not successfully persuade the ethical physicians to keep patients in the hospital for nothing more than economic reasons.”

Bok said in a phone interview that “at least three people have told me that bounties were paid for patients.”

NME said its policy was not to comment on pending litigation.