Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1003496
94 CMO / CARE DELIVERY Former Sparrow Carson executive claims she was fired for reporting substandard medical care By Ayla Ellison C arson City, Mich.-based Sparrow Carson Hospital officials announced the departure of the hospital's Chief Nursing Officer and COO Barb McQuillan, BSN, RN, in March, but declined to say why. In a whis- tle-blower lawsuit filed April 25, Ms. McQuillan claims she was fired for reporting quality of care issues at the hospital, according to the Lansing State Journal. In her lawsuit, Ms. McQuillan alleges she was fired after reporting "substandard medical care and treatment." The problems she reported related to an obstetrician who was permitted to continue performing surgeries at the hospital despite negative incidents documented by hospital em- ployees in 2017, according to the lawsuit. Ms. McQuillan's departure from Sparrow Carson in March came less than a month after hospital CEO Matthew Thompson left his post. The executive departures came amid investigations into the hospital's infection control issues. CMS sent Sparrow Carson a Medicare contract termination notice Feb. 6, af- ter a federal investigation revealed the hospital was out of compliance with infection control standards. Ms. McQuillan, whose lawsuit makes no mention of the in- fection control issues, is at least the second former hospital employee to sue Sparrow Carson this year, according to the report. Nurse anesthetist Jonnie Vanderhoef, MSN, CRNA, who was fired after reporting concerns about a physician re- garding high infection rates, filed suit against the hospital in February. Mr. Vanderhoef's lawsuit claims Ms. McQuillan was one of several hospital leaders involved in his firing. Ms. McQuillan's lawsuit, which is pending in Ingham Coun- ty Circuit Court, seeks damages exceeding $100,000. n Ex-Swedish Health surgeon sues Seattle Times over investigation published prior to resignation By Alyssa Rege J ohnny B. Delashaw Jr., MD, the former chairman of the Seattle-based Swedish Neuroscience Institute, filed a lawsuit against e Seattle Times and a physician at the institute April 11, accusing the publica- tion of reporting libelous and defamatory information about him and engaging in a conspiracy to undermine his reputation, ac- cording to e Seattle Times. Here are six things to know about the lawsuit. 1. e lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle, seeks unspecified monetary dam- ages, an order enjoining the newspaper from publishing false statements about Dr. Delas- haw, the removal of false statements about Dr. Delashaw, and a published retraction. 2. e lawsuit also seeks an order enjoining Seattle-based Swedish Health neurosurgeon Charles Cobb, MD, from issuing false state- ments about Dr. Delashaw. According to the complaint, Dr. Cobb and another physician at the institution allegedly engaged in a plot to undermine Dr. Delashaw because they re- sented the loss of income and authority under his leadership, according to e Seattle Times. e lawsuit does not specifically connect the alleged actions of the two physicians to the articles published by the newspaper. 3. Dr. Delashaw resigned from Swedish Health in March 2017, roughly three weeks aer the newspaper published an investiga- tion called "e Quantity of Care" exposing widespread concerns about Dr. Delashaw's practices. e state medical board suspend- ed Dr. Delashaw's medical license in May 2017. In December 2017, a judge ruled — at Dr. Delashaw's request — to postpone his ap- peal hearing until April. 4. e Seattle Times investigation spurred a state investigation into the institution, which revealed the health system's Cher- ry Hill campus faced a plethora of issues, including oversight failures and "numer- ous" issues related to patient safety, accord- ing to the report. Following the investiga- tion, the health system's CEO resigned and CMS placed Swedish Health's Medicare and Medicaid funding at risk. 4. According to the lawsuit, Dr. Delashaw claims e Seattle Times falsely said he ne- glected patients by performing "concurrent surgeries" to increase his pay. e Seattle Times' investigation examined surgeries that had taken place between 2013 and 2015, and described how Swedish Health alleged- ly changed its contracts for surgeons in the Neuroscience Institute, including Dr. Delas- haw, during that time so that their compensa- tion was based on surgical volume. 5. e lawsuit also alleges e Seattle Times used incomplete data and failed to in- clude other data illustrating excellent patient outcomes at the institution. However, accord- ing to the newspaper, neither Dr. Delashaw nor the health system had ever requested cor- rections to the stories. "We are reviewing the complaint, but we stand by the accuracy of the 'Quantity of Care' series," said Alan Fisco, president of e Seattle Times. "As this is a legal matter, we will have no further comment at this time." n