The physicians described the medical staff as “self-governing” in the complaint and alleged hospital administration ignored medical staff bylaws by interfering in the peer review process and medical executive committee elections.
The hospital administration refutes claims in the complaint.
“[The] hospital administration and governing board dispute each and every allegation in the petition and notes that the petition erroneously suggests that the medical staff should control all hospital operations,” said Liliana Viamari, director of communications and marketing for Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, in a statement provided to Becker’s. “The role of the medical staff is well established in law and is limited to the right to evaluate the quality of care provided, the professional performance of providers and make recommendations to the governing board, which is the ultimate authority for the hospital.”
Last fall, physician plaintiffs accused Joseph Nussbaum, MD, chair of medicine, of conducting peer review outside of the medical executive committee’s normal procedures. The MEC sent a notice of investigation to Dr. Nussbaum and updated his status to “not in good standing,” according to the complaint. The MEC voted to remove him from his chair of medicine position, according to the complaint.
In December, the medical staff held elections for officer positions and alleged the hospital administration added Dr. Nussbaum to the ballot, who was elected secretary. The plaintiffs also alleged technical issues with the voting, which led to multiple votes for some physicians. The lawsuit said 238 physicians were allowed to vote when just 94 were eligible.
The hospital’s leadership sees the situation differently.
“The entirety of the dispute in the petition is not one with the hospital administration or the governing board, but instead a dispute between factions of the medical staff centered around officer elections that have been challenged by members of the medical staff who were elected by the active staff but have not been allowed to take office,” said Ms. Viamari. “These newly elected officers are separately represented, and it is our understanding that they will be intervening in this action.”
Ms. Viamari also told Becker’s the medical staff didn’t authorize the petition, which she said was “driven by a small number of individuals who refuse to follow the medical staff’s bylaws.”
“This independent acting group of medical staff individuals has repeatedly acted in violation of the medical staff’s bylaws, including the filing of this action, which was never submitted to the active medical staff for approval,” she said. “The governing board has repeatedly offered to resolve this matter through a Joint Conference Committee, the mechanism set forth for dispute resolution. However, the medical staff members who have filed this action have rejected this offer and instead prematurely resorted to filing this court action. The failure of this group to exhaust its administrative remedies is disappointing and the governing board remains available for such a meeting.”
The complaint also calls into question contracts with physician specialists and vendors. Ms. Viamari said providing quality patient care is the hospital’s top priority and is looking ahead.
“The governing board respects the medical staff self-governance rights and looks forward to a prompt resolution of this matter,” she said.
The physician group seeks to prevent the hospital from violating medical staff bylaws and invalidate the election results.