Becker's ASC Review

14 ASC MANAGEMENT Georgia hospital claims state health commissioner ignored surgery center's unauthorized expansion By Eric Oliver B runswick-based Southeast Georgia Health System filed a lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Community Health, state Health Commissioner Frank Berry and representatives of Premier Surgery Center alleging the state didn't review the surgery center's 2003 expansion, Law360 reports. Brunswick-based Premier Surgery Center added a third operating room in 2003. The center did not acquire a certificate of need. South- east Georgia alleged that Mr. Berry and his department ignored their duty to enforce Georgia's CON law, established in 1979, and that in turn has caused the hospital to lose business. Premier has operated in Georgia since 1975. Its two operating rooms were grandfathered in to the CON law. Southeast Georgia claims the grandfather exemption only applied to its existing operating rooms and not to new expansions. The health system argued Premier should've applied for a CON for its third operating room. The health department told Southeast that it gave Premier an occu- pancy permit for the additional room in March. The health system is seeking a ruling to issue a cease and desist to the surgery center for its third operating room. A legal representative for the surgery center was not made available to Law360 at the time of publication. n 5 stats on pay for physicians under 40 by practice setting By Laura Dyrda C ompensation for physicians early in their careers varied by setting, with physicians under the age of 40 reporting the highest pay in office-based single-specialty practices, according to the Medscape Young Physician Compensation Report 2020. Medscape collected data from 17,561 physi- cians in 30 specialties for its compensation survey. Physicians responded to the survey from Oct. 4, 2019, to Feb. 10. Below is the average compensation for physi- cians under the age of 40, by practice setting. 1. Office-based single-specialty group prac- tice: $289,000 2. Hospital: $279,000 3. Office-based multispecialty group practice: $274,000 4. Healthcare organization: $257,000 5. Outpatient clinic: $199,000 n Texas surgery center asks appeals court to vacate $8M award to physician By Eric Oliver H ouston Metro Ortho and Spine Surgery Center asked the appeals court for the 14th District of Texas to vacate an $8 million award Harris County District Court awarded Richard Francis, MD, because of the language in Dr. Francis' employment contract, Law360 reports. Dr. Francis was one of eight physicians and an ambulance service to invest in Houston Metro in 2011. All parties agreed to perform the majority of the surgeries at the ASC, which would open in April 2012. All the parties entered into a contract that allowed them to perform a third of their procedures at other healthcare facilities. e contract also included a noncompete clause. Dr. Francis' caseload allegedly began declin- ing in 2014 because he performed Medicare procedures. His records showed he was performing the majority of his procedures at other centers. Houston Metro stated in legal documents it would never seek Medicare certification. In October 2014, the ASC's board fired Dr. Francis for violating his noncompete clause. Dr. Francis accepted the termination in November 2014. In April 2015, the surgery center sued Dr. Francis to enforce its noncompete clause and then filed an additional claim, to which Dr. Francis responded by filing conversion and unjust enrichment claims. e ASC claims the circuit wrongly banned evidence about Dr. Francis' departure, which led to the court granting Dr. Francis an $8 million award for his ownership stake in the surgery center. e center is now asking an appeals court to either eliminate the award or grant a retrial. e center argues the language in its employ- ment contracts specified that Dr. Francis was only entitled to his $195,000 investment. n

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