Dive Brief:
- Summa Health System, based in Akron, Ohio has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to maintain its minority ownership in Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, while the hospital's physician owners seek to end the partnership and attempt to ban health system representatives from board meetings.
- Summa has controlled 40% of the venture that owns the hospital since 2009, reports the Akron Beacon Journal, at which time the health system entered into an agreement with about 200 physicians to jointly operate the hospital.
- Summa's lawsuit alleges the physician owners, operating as Western Reserve Hospital Partners LLC, wrongly terminated the company's participation. It seeks a court order to force the hospital to recognize Summa's ongoing stake.
Dive Insight:
The dispute stems from the physicians' claim that Summa violated their joint operating agreement with terms included as part of a $250-million deal with HealthSpan Partners in 2013, the Akron Beacon Journal reports.
It's easy to see how the two agreements could present a potential conflict of interest, though Summa doesn't see it that way.
The physician group says Summa's newer agreement limits where Western Reserve Hospital can provide services and that it puts a $10-million cap on what the health system can plan to spend on a new Western Reserve hospital building.
Summa's court filing contends that nothing about its agreement with HealthSpan Partners violates its agreement with Western Reserve Hospital Partners.