Becker's Hospital Review

76 CMO / CARE DELIVERY 3 nurses sue Pennsylvania hospitals over alleged 'no-poach' deal By Alia Paavola T hree registered nurses sued Geising- er and Evangelical Community Hospital, alleging the Pennsylvania hospitals had a secret "no-poach agree- ment" that suppressed healthcare wages in the region, according to court documents obtained by Becker's Hospital Review. e nurses' lawsuit, filed Feb. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, claims the agreement was es- tablished to prevent the hospitals from re- cruiting each other's physicians, nurses, re- spiratory therapists, psychologists and other healthcare professionals. e nurses claim the agreement was intended to, and did, re- duce competition in the market, keeping wages low for healthcare workers. e nurses — Nichole Leib, RN, Kevin Brokenshire, RN, and Diane Weigley, RN — claim that the no-poach agreement was reached and known about at the highest lev- els of their organizations through secretive verbal exchanges that were later confirmed by emails. e lawsuit claims that senior executives at the organizations periodically reaffirmed, monitored and policed the agreement. e lawsuit claims the agreement was in place by May 2015, and stayed in place until the U.S. Justice Department filed a civil class action last August against the two organiza- tions to block Geisinger's partial acquisition of Evangelical Community Hospital. e Justice Department has since resolved the antitrust lawsuit by capping Geisinger's own- ership stake at 7.5 percent. In the suit, which the nurses are seeking to make a class action, the nurses said that without the Justice Department's lawsuit they may have never known about the no-poach agreement. "Ultimately the no-poach agreement re- duced competition for healthcare workers, and as a result, it reduced plaintiffs' job mo- bility and enabled defendants to pay their employees, including members of the class, less than they would have been paid ab- sent the no-poach agreement," according to the lawsuit. Plaintiffs are seeking unspecified treble damages for violations of state and antitrust laws, payment of the cost of the suit and reasonable attorney fees. In response to the lawsuit, Geisinger sent the following statement to Becker's Hospital Review: "We adamantly disagree with allega- tions that Geisinger restricted its recruitment for staff in any way. In fact, Geisinger regu- larly conducts outreach to gauge interest and hires talent locally, regionally and nationally, including those from Evangelical Communi- ty Hospital, and provides competitive com- pensation and benefits. is approach allows us to have the best clinicians and staff to care for our patients. Any claims to the contrary are without merit. Geisinger believes strongly that competition is a good thing for our patients, our mem- bers, our communities and team members. It helps ensure our organization is doing every- thing we can to reduce the total cost of care, create better affordability and deliver those benefits to the patient, while retaining and rewarding our staff." Evangelical Community Hospital told Becker's Hospital Review it cannot comment on any pending litigation. n Washington physician charged with unprofessional conduct after patient dies By Ayla Ellison T he Washington state Department of Health charged a physician with unprofessional conduct after he allegedly failed to test a patient for heart problems, and the patient died days later of cardiac arrest, according to a Jan. 31 Tri-City Herald report. The department of health announced the charge against Jared Guenter Wolfert, DO, in January. He was charged in November, but the death occurred in 2018, accord- ing to the report. Dr. Wolfert, who practices at Richland, Wash.-based Kadlec Regional Medical Center, disputes the charge. According to the department of health, a 58-year-old man with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and high blood pressure was brought to the emergency de- partment in mid-November 2018 experiencing back pain, near loss of consciousness and unusual sweating. The department of health said there is no evidence that Dr. Wolfert performed tests on the patient to determine if his symptoms could be caused by heart issues. The physi- cian discharged the patient from the ER with prescriptions for an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxant, the state said, according to the report. The patient went into cardiac arrest shortly after he was released from the ER, and he died two days later. Kadlec said it cannot comment on the matter while the investigation is ongoing. "Kadlec is dedicated to the highest standards of patient safety," Kadlec said in a statement to the Tri-City Herald. "We take any and all concerns about patient safety ex- tremely seriously and fully investigate as appropriate." Dr. Wolfert is employed at Kadlec through a contract with a physician staffing company. n

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