Becker's Hospital Review

36 POPULATION HEALTH 36 CEO / STRATEGY Surgeon's libel claim poses threat to public welfare, Iowa hospital says By Ayla Ellison T he Iowa Supreme Court will decide whether hospitals can be sued for libel aer reporting suspected physician misconduct to state licensing boards, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported Feb. 10. Mark Andrew, MD, sued Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City, Iowa, for breach of contract, defamation and libel aer he was fired, and a district court ruled in late 2019 that he could have his lawsuit heard by a jury. e hospital appealed to the state supreme court, arguing physicians, hospitals and oth- ers are immune from lawsuits that arise from confidential complaints to the Iowa Board of Medicine, according to the report. If the Iowa Supreme Court allows Dr. An- drew's case to be heard by a jury, it will have a "chilling effect" on the complaint pro- cess and public welfare will be put at risk, the hospital argues, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch. e dispute between Dr. Andrew and Van Diest Medical Center dates back to 2016, when the hospital investigated the physi- cian's prescribing practices aer a pharma- cist expressed concerns about the amount of hydrocodone Dr. Andrew was prescrib- ing. e hospital's then-administrator fired Dr. Andrew within a week of completing the investigation. Dr. Andrew was informed in writing that he was being fired "due to significant concerns about prescribing practices and patient care issues," according to the report. In his lawsuit, Dr. Andrew alleges that the hospital made false and malicious claims about him in a complaint filed with state li- censing officials. e state high court is be- ing asked to decide whether the hospital is immune from lawsuit. Under Iowa law, a person isn't civilly liable as a result of filing a complaint with a licens- ing board. However, the immunity doesn't apply if the complaint is made with malice, according to the report. e Iowa Board of Medicine closed Dr. Andrew's file in April 2018 aer conclud- ing the hospital's complaint didn't warrant disciplinary action. As of March 3, the Iowa Supreme Court hasn't scheduled oral arguments in the case. n Georgia hospital defends vaccination of employees' family members By Kelly Gooch A Georgia hospital defended its vaccination proce- dures after media reports surfaced about the state's department of public health reviewing the facility's decision to allow family members of employees to receive COVID-19 shots, regardless of whether they were part of the state's priority groups. Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Ga., defended the situation in a statement shared with Becker's Feb. 8, saying it does not believe the vaccinations were inappropriate. The hos- pital said it halted the vaccinations three weeks prior, when the state clarified its prioritization guidance. Floyd Medical Center decided to vaccinate family mem- bers of employees in January. At the time of that deci- sion, the hospital said it was facing a surge of COVID-19 patients and was focused on limiting absences of Floyd healthcare workers. "We had record numbers of COVID-19 patients in the hos- pital, and it was important to ensure we had staff to care for those patients in addition to our ongoing patient popula- tion," the hospital said in its Feb. 8 statement. As of early February, Georgia was in the 1a+ phase for vaccine distribution, which includes healthcare work- ers, long-term care facility staff and residents, adults age 65 and older and their caregivers, and emergency personnel. Media outlets, including the Atlanta Jour- nal-Constitution, reported that the state department of public health was reviewing the hospital's vaccine distri- bution to people who may not have been included in the state's 1a+ phase. Floyd Medical Center said it does not believe it vaccinated anyone inappropriately because of an agreement with the state that allows it to inoculate family members of health- care workers. The agreement includes a formula for deter- mining how many family members of healthcare workers can be vaccinated. Floyd Medical Center has abided by the agreement, which "includes vaccines for staff, volunteers and contracted staff, and again family members of staff," the hospital said in ear- ly February. "However, when the state clarified and indicat- ed that they were insisting on strict adherence to the Tier 1A+ guidelines three weeks ago, we immediately came into compliance with that clarification." Floyd Medical Center said the only family members still being vaccinated were the ones getting their second dos- es. Anna Adams, senior vice president of government rela- tions at the Georgia Hospital Association, told Becker's the hospital is continuing to vaccinate community members who are eligible under current vaccine phase criteria. The state department of public health did not provide an update or comment to Becker's about the matter. n

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