An Indiana physician filed a lawsuit against Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Lutheran Medical Group to keep it from enforcing a noncompete agreement, The Journal Gazette reported July 6.
David Lankford, DO, a pediatric intensivist, began working at Lutheran in October 2017. His lawsuit alleges that in late 2022, the hospital laid off a large portion of its pediatricians, increasing Dr. Lankford's patient load by four to five times. In December, Dr. Lankford gave the hospital one month's notice that he would terminate the agreement if breaches were not addressed. He stated that the extra work without additional compensation constituted breach of contract. Lutheran counsel said no breach of contract had been made, and on Jan. 7, Dr. Lankford terminated the agreement for cause.
In March, Dr. Lankford took up a position at Fort Wayne-based Parkview Regional Medical Center. Lutheran contacted Parkview and said it would enforce the noncompete clause if the hospital continued to schedule Dr. Lankford. Parkview complied and took Dr. Lankford off the schedule.
The lawsuit says that Lutheran was unable to enforce the noncompete because it was first guilty of a material breach of contract. It cites a law that went into effect July 1 that says physician noncompetes are not enforceable if the physician terminates the agreement for cause.
Dr. Lankford's attorney told the Gazette, "This may be the first lawsuit filed under Indiana's new physician noncompete law, which the Indiana General Assembly designed to protect physicians and the communities they serve from the type of interference Lutheran has engaged in here."
Lutheran declined to comment on the active lawsuit.
Dr. Lankford is seeking injunctions to prevent the enforcement of the noncompete, as well an award to cover legal costs.
He said in a statement to the Gazette, "Lutheran's continued interference with my ability to provide that care harms no one more than the children who need access to health care. I hope that by standing up to Lutheran, I can embolden other physicians to stand up to health care systems which seemingly focus more on their financial bottom lines than on patient access to quality health care."