From a New York hospital accused of withholding benefits to a Wisconsin hospital suing a gubernatorial candidate over the use of its logo in campaign advertisements, here are 10 hospital lawsuits and settlements Becker's has reported on since Oct. 26:
1. St. Louis hospital owner accused of diverting $1.4M of hospital funds
The owners of SA Hospital Acquisition Group, which owns St. Louis-based South City Hospital, were accused in a lawsuit of diverting funds meant to improve the hospital for "personal use."
2. U of Iowa must pay $12.8M more to contractor after pediatric hospital dispute
A jury ordered Iowa City-based University of Iowa to pay an additional $12.8 million to Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based contractor Modern Piping over a 2016 dispute surrounding the construction of the Hatcher Auditorium and the Stead Family Children's Hospital.
3. Union accuses New York hospital of withholding benefits
The 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East accused Stony Brook (N.Y.) Southampton Hospital of withholding approximately $1.7 million in benefits and pension funds from employees in a petition filed with the New York Supreme Court.
4. Mount Sinai faces lawsuit alleging sexism by leadership
Four former employees of Mount Sinai Hospital's Icahn School of Medicine in New York City filed a lawsuit against the school and four additional defendants alleging sexist behavior by the school's leadership.
5. OakBend Medical Center faces lawsuit for ransomware attack that breached 1M patient records
Richmond, Texas-based OakBend Medical Center was hit with a class-action lawsuit over a September ransomware attack and data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 1 million patients. The lawsuit alleges the hospital failed to take adequate measures to protect the personal information of patients.
6. New York hospital staff file suit over overtime pay
Two former cleaning staff members at the New York City-based Montefiore Health System filed a lawsuit against the health system and the staffing agency who hired them, alleging they were not paid overtime, as required by federal law, or given extra compensation for "spread of hours" required by New York law.
7. Father sues HCA hospital after photo of injured son posted online
HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in Miami, part of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, was sued after an emergency room worker allegedly posted a photo on Instagram of an 18-year-old patient in the operating room weeks before the teenager died.
8. Former New Jersey hospital employee claims she was fired for ending relationship with CEO
A former employee of Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus, N.J., filed a lawsuit against the facility and its CEO, alleging she was fired for breaking off her relationship with him.
9. New York hospital fined for improper billing
Oswego (N.Y.) Hospital has agreed to pay a nearly $100,000 fine to resolve allegations that it knowingly violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare and Medicaid for outpatient mental healthcare services that were rendered by an unsupervised licensed master social worker.
10. Froedtert Health sues Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate
Milwaukee-based Froedtert Health filed suit against Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels over the use of its logo in the Republican's campaign advertisements. The health system alleged that a televised advertisement for Mr. Michel's campaign contains photos of an event related to a $15 million donation the Michels Family Foundation made to a cancer center affiliated with Froedtert that show the health system's logo. The health system claims the candidate rejected requests and a cease-and-desist letter to stop use of the logo.