LET'S TAKE IT TO COURT AND SEE WHO WINS!
The Insite received this release about the battle between two local hospitals. It's surely going to generate fireworks in the courtroom. I'm hoping I get to cover it. Here are the details:
The 109 founding physician-owners of the now defunct Houston Town & Country Hospital have filed a claim in Harris County District Court accusing the senior leadership of Memorial Hermann Healthcare System of illegally engineering the hospital’s demise. According to the petition filed before Harris County District Judge John Donovan, Memorial Hermann’s executive leadership coerced local insurers into a group boycott against Town & Country. This group boycott meant patients covered by those companies could not be treated at Town & Country. Memorial Hermann’s group boycott has caused damages that may exceed $100,000,000.
“Memorial Hermann’s monopolistic acts put this hospital out of business, harming not only these
doctors and the three-hundred dedicated hospital employees who lost their jobs, but countless
Houstonians who would benefit from greater choice and greater price competition when seeking
health care,” said attorney Rusty Hardin.
Apparently due to a lack of confidence that they can successfully rebut the allegations in the
lawsuit, Memorial Hermann’s lawyers rushed to federal court demanding that U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon declare that the system did nothing wrong. This federal lawsuit was filed
several days before the doctors went to state court. “Like the boy who murders his parents and pleads for mercy because he’s an orphan, this raises ‘chutzpah’ to an entirely new level,” said Hardin.
Houston Town & Country Hospital opened on Houston’s west side near the intersection of
Interstate 10 and the Sam Houston Tollway in November 2005. The facility was state of the art
and the physician-owners who practiced there were among the finest this community has to
offer. The hospital folded at the end of 2006.
“First they threatened us, before we even opened the hospital,” said Dr. Robert Vanzant, one of
the 109 physician investors in Houston Town & Country Hospital. “They said they would crush
us. When that didn’t stop us, they started threatening the insurance companies.”
“Every insurer we spoke with was interested in working with us. Every insurer that toured the
hospital acknowledged that it was an excellent and necessary facility. Then they backed out
and multiple credible sources, even some within Memorial Hermann, acknowledge that it is
because they were threatened.” “This was illegal, immoral and cowardly, especially for a hospital system that pays no taxes because it claims to be a charitable organization,” Vanzant said.
5 comments:
regardless of who wins, rusty hardin gets paid!!!
"go rusty, its your birthday, don't forget me, i may need you to defend me in a courtroom"
no one seems to mention that memorial bought town and country hospital and put their name on it for the past 5 months, and starting next month, they will be leasing/selling to Triumph.
the few staff that jumped from T&C to Memorial are now with the choice to jump with Triumph but will be loosing compensation by memorial according to their policy ....
some staff from other memorial facilities were moved to this hospital and are now being given the choice to work with Triumph (and lose all those years of benefits from memorial) or to apply for a new job with memorial depending on where and when they have a position available.
Poor, for-profit greedy doctors claim to be defenseless against a nonprofit hospital? Give me a break. I heard they were really awful business managers because they borrowed up to their eyeballs, and didn't capitalize the hospital correctly. Maybe they should have stuck to the hippocratic oath and taking care of patients instead of the for profit oath to get rich! Oh, maybe I meant the HYPOCRITICAL OATH!
Memorial Hermann has a habit of getting rid of older people(50+ in age). Ever since Memorial bought Hermann it has been going down hill. The Hermann people are like the "Enron Type" arrogant. That's why they had the problem with the doctor's hospital they put out of business.They don't care about people or being fair and honest. The top people at Memorial now, came from Hermann. The leaders are going to drive Memorial into the ground with their arrogance.
Go Rusty, Sue for alot. Maybe then the leaders at Memorial now will be fired. Bring back the honest old Memorial people back before Hermann took the top positions. Get rid of the Hermann people, they are arrogant.
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