New Brunswick, N.J.-based Saint Peter’s Healthcare System has filed a lawsuit alleging West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health and former board member Maureen Cernadas, MD, conspired to divert the system’s OB-GYN business.
Six things to know:
1. The lawsuit was filed Oct. 14 in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Middlesex County. Claims include breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting, civil conspiracy, unfair competition and breach of contract.
“We believe the actions taken by RWJBH and Dr. Cernadas are improper, unethical and, simply stated, unacceptable,” Saint Peter’s President and CEO Leslie Hirsch said in an Oct. 14 statement.
2. Dr. Cernadas led Brunswick Hills OB/GYN, a practice owned by Axia Women’s Health. She also sat on Saint Peter’s boards. Saint Peter’s alleges she negotiated with RWJBarnabas in secret for nearly two years while on the board and never disclosed a conflict of interest. She resigned from the board April 15.
3. Saint Peter’s also alleges RWJBarnabas misused confidential information it received during the two systems’ merger talks. Those talks ended in 2022 after the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the deal.
4. The nine Brunswick Hills physicians left Axia in May to form Mid-Jersey OBGYN Partners, a joint venture with RWJBarnabas. According to the complaint, patients tied to the group generated about $28 million in net patient revenue for Saint Peter’s in 2025, and the group plans to move deliveries to RWJBarnabas after January 2027.
5. Axia is pursuing its own claims in a related case. In May counterclaims, it accused the physicians, RWJBarnabas and three RWJBarnabas executives of misappropriating trade secrets and soliciting 31 staff members who resigned in May. The case is in discovery, an Axia spokesperson told Becker’s. Saint Peter’s plans to seek consolidation of the two cases.
Axia called the allegations made in Saint Peter’s lawsuit “both serious and concerning.”
6. RWJBarnabas said it has not sought, received or used confidential Saint Peter’s information.
“These allegations are without merit. We will respond in court, where this matter belongs,” George Helmy, the system’s executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer, said in a statement shared with Becker’s.
Becker’s has reached out to Dr. Cernadas’ attorney and will update this story if more information becomes available.
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