10 recent hospital lawsuits, settlements

From Wellstar Health, which received three federal complaints over the closure of two hospitals in the Atlanta area, to a former CEO who sued a Missouri hospital for defamation, here are 10 hospital lawsuits and agreements as reported by the publication. Becker from February 27:

1. The Fulton County (Georgia) Commission voted to file a complaint with the Department of Justice against the Marietta, Georgia-based Wellstar Healthcare System, the third federal health care complaint request for the closure of two hospitals in the Atlanta area. in a week.

The civil rights organization NAACP and a coalition of Georgia lawmakers have filed two federal complaints against Wellstar over the closure of South Atlanta Medical Center at East Point and its 460-bed sister facility, Atlanta Medical Center, both in predominantly black neighborhoods.

2. Randall Tobler, MD, former CEO of the Scotland County Hospital in Memphis, Missouri, sued the hospital on charges of libel and defamation.

3. Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola, Florida, agreed to pay $2.4 million after it itself reported alleged violations of the Civil Monetary Sanctions Act.

4. A registered nurse in Ohio filed a complaint in federal court against Kettering Health, alleging that the hospital did not pay overtime wages to nurses who worked unpaid lunch breaks.

5. Anesthesia doctor sues Wetzel County Hospital in New Martinsville, West Virginia for “pulling it off the market.”

6. Federal judges denied a nearly $1 million sales tax refund request from District Hospital Partners, operator of the George Washington Hospital in Washington, DC.

7. Lakeland Regional Medical Center, Florida has agreed to pay $4 million to settle allegations that it made improper, dishonest Medicaid donations to Polk County, Florida by assuming and paying certain amounts of the county’s financial obligations to other health care providers. .

8. The Wyoming County Public Health System in Warsaw, New York, was sued by a doctor who was fired over a year ago for defamation, breach of contract and retaliation.

9. A federal judge ruled that New Hampshire’s practice of temporarily placing mentally ill patients in hospital emergency rooms constituted an illegal seizure of hospital property.

10. UPMC, its Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and the University of Pittsburgh Physicians have agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle allegations of illegally filing hundreds of false claims with Medicare, Medicaid, and other public health programs over a six-year period.