Wood v. Archbold Med. Ctr. Inc., Civil Action No. 7:07-CV-109 (HL)
| Decision Date | 13 September 2010 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 7:07-CV-109 (HL) |
| Citation | 738 F.Supp.2d 1298 |
| Parties | Mark G. WOOD, M.D., Plaintiff, v. ARCHBOLD MEDICAL CENTER, INC., John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital, Inc., Ken B. Beverly, James L. Story Jr., M.D., Marshall Dunaway, M.D., Merrill Hicks, M.D., Raul G. Santos, M.D., Mel Hartsfield, M.D., Victor M. McMillan, M.D., Edward Hall, M.D., Nicholas Quinif, M.D., Wesley W. Simms, M.D., Rudolf Hehn, M.D., James Falconer, M.D., Bryan R. Grieme, M.D., and other unknown co-conspirators, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Georgia |
Arindam Kar, Erin Fleming Dunlap, Bryan Cave LLP, St. Louis, MO, Craig S. O'Dear, Kansas City, MO, Gary Bryan Blasingame, Blasingame, Burch, Garrard & Ashley P.C., Athens, GA, Mark W. Brennan, Kansas City, MO, Mary Clare Bonaccorsi, Michael Jude Werich, Steven R. Smith, Dmitry Shifrin, Bryan Cave, LLP, William Wortel, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.
Brian Allen Hayles, Mark J. Horoschak, Raboteau T. Wilder, Jr., Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, Charlotte, NC, Daniel M. Mulholland, III, Susan Lapenta, Pittsburgh, PA, David B. Hamilton, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, Baltimore, MD, David Howard Robbins, Thomasville, GA, George R. Lilly, II, Thomasville, GA, John F. Morrow, Jr., Philip J. Mohr, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, Winston-Salem, NC, Robert R. Ambler, Jr., Ashley Smith Thompson, Dana M. Richens, Jennifer Saffold Collins, Elizabeth L. Branch, John Francis Weeks, IV, William V. Hearnburg, Jr., Charles Michael Abbott Atlanta, GA, Kathleen Terese Sanderson, Thomas Campbell, Chicago, IL, for Defendants.
This case is before the Court on the following motions:
After considering the briefs, oral arguments, and evidence presented by the parties, the Court rules as follows: (1) the Hospital Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 462) is granted; (2) the Physician Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 464) is granted; (3) Defendant Simms' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 466) is granted; (4) Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 468) is denied; (5) Plaintiff's Amended Motionfor Summary Judgment (Doc. 500) is granted, in part, and denied, in part; and (6) Defendant Beverly's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 472) is granted.
Defendant John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital, Inc. (the "Hospital") owns and operates a general acute care hospital in Thomasville, Georgia. (Doc. 463, ¶ 4). Defendant Archbold Medical Center, Inc. (the "Medical Center") is the sole corporate member of the Hospital. (Doc. 463, ¶ 3). The Hospital is governed by a Board of Trustees (the "Board"). The Board is responsible for the Hospital's property, business pursuant to the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Law, the hospital licensing regulations of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, and the Bylaws of the Hospital. (Doc. 463, ¶ 18). The Board's responsibilities also include appointing physicians to the medical staff of the Hospital, delineating clinical privileges for the physicians, and periodically determining whether the appointment and clinical privileges of those physicians should continue. (Doc. 463, ¶ 19).
The Hospital's medical staff is composed of physicians and other health care practitioners who have been appointed to the medical staff and granted clinical privileges by the Board.2 (Doc. 463, ¶ 20). Medical staff appointments and clinical privileges are granted by the Board after receiving recommendations from the medical staff. Medical staff appointments and clinical privileges are subject to reevaluation and may be renewed by the Board after receiving recommendations from the medical staff every two years, and may also be terminated by the Board. (Doc. 463, ¶ 23).
The medical staff is organized under Medical Staff Bylaws adopted by the medical staff and approved by the Board. The medical staff is supposed to function pursuant to those Bylaws. (Doc. 463, ¶ 24).
The Medical Executive Committee (the "MEC") is a committee of the medical staff composed of the officers of the medical staff and the chairpersons of certain medical staff departments. The MEC's duties include recommending to the Board all matters relating to medical staff appointments, reappointments, clinical privileges, and corrective actions. (Doc. 463, ¶ 25).
Plaintiff is a nephrologist.3 He is board certified in internal medicine. (Doc. 463-119). He currently serves as the medical director of the Fresenius dialysis centersin Thomasville and Bainbridge, as well as the DaVita dialysis center in Moultrie. He also has a private nephrology practice. (Doc. 463-131). He became a member of the medical staff at the Hospital in 1983, and served as the medical director of the inpatient and outpatient dialysis units at the Hospital from 1983-1994. (Doc. 469, ¶¶ 4-5).
Defendant Nicolas Quinif, M.D., is a urologist. (Doc. 463-15, p. 2). Defendant Rudolf Hehn, M.D., practices in the area of family medicine. (Doc. 463-16, p. 2). Defendant James Falconer practices in the area of internal medicine. (Doc. 463-17, p. 2). Defendant Victor McMillan, M.D., is a rheumatologist. (Doc. 463-18, p. 2). Defendant Edward Hall, M.D., is a general surgeon. (Doc. 463-19, p. 2). Defendant Bryan Grieme, M.D., is a radiologist. (Doc. 463-21, p. 3). Defendant Marshall Dunaway, M.D., practices in the area of internal medicine. (Doc. 463-22, p. 2). Defendant Wesley W. Simms is a pathologist. (Doc. 467-2).
Defendant Raul Santos, M.D., is a nephrologist. (Doc. 463-142, p. 2). Defendant Merrill Hicks is also a nephrologist. (Doc. 463-138, p. 2). Defendants Hicks and Santos own and operate a nephrology practice located in Thomasville, which is incorporated as Nephrology Consultants, Inc. ("NCI"). (Doc. 469, ¶ 49). Defendants Hicks and Santos are currently and have been since at least January 1995 and February 1996, respectively, under contract with the Hospital to serve as medical directors of the Hospital's inpatient dialysis unit and the Hospital's five outpatient dialysis facilities. (Doc. 469, ¶ 50).
Defendant James Story, M.D., was the Vice President of Medical Affairs for the Hospital from March 1997 to October 2000, and was President and CEO of the Hospital from October 2000 to April 2007. (Doc. 469, ¶¶ 34, 36). Defendant Mel Hartsfield, M.D., was the Vice President of Medical Affairs from March 2001 to December 2006. Prior to that time, he served as an emergency room physician at the Hospital. (Doc. 463-14). Defendant Ken B. Beverly served as the Chief Executive Officer and President of the Medical Center from April 1992 to February 2008. (Doc. 469, ¶ 19). He was employed by and served as the CEO and President of the Hospital from 1985 to 1992. (Doc. 469, ¶ 21). Defendant Beverly was also a member of the Board from 1994 through February 2008. (Doc. 469, ¶ 24).
In 1994, Plaintiff advised the Hospital that he would be setting up a competing outpatient dialysis facility. (Doc. 469, ¶ 131). The decision to do so was based on several reasons, including Plaintiff's belief that the Hospital refused to upgrade its dialysis equipment and facilities, as well as the fact that many hospitals were divesting their dialysis facilities. (Docs. 463-88, p. 23; 520-29). Plaintiff resigned as medical director of the Hospital's outpatient facility in late 1994. (Doc. 469, ¶ 132).
In May of 1995, Plaintiff and others incorporated South Georgia Dialysis Services, LLC ("SGDS") for the purpose of owning and operating dialysis clinics. (Doc. 463-119). Plaintiff owned a minority interest in SGDS. SGDS opened a dialysis center in Thomasville in December of 1995. It opened its hemodialysis centers in Thomasville and Camilla sometime between October and December of 1996. (Docs. 463-124; 463-125). In early 1997, SGDS opened two additional hemodialysis clinics, one in Quitman, and the other in Bainbridge. (Docs. 463-124; 463-125).Part of SGDS's business plan was to take virtually all of Plaintiff's dialysis patients away from the Hospital's outpatient facilities. (Doc. 520-11). It is admitted that Defendant Beverly did not like the fact that SGDS set up competing dialysis facilities, and had discussions with Plaintiff "about the fact that there are a lot of economic financial opportunities for us to do business together, because dialysis was-is a big business ... in Thomasville ... and the state and the nation, and it was only going to get bigger, and there were a lot of economic opportunities for us to work together." (Doc. 469, ¶ 137). Defendants Beverly and Hicks raised concerns about the "local competition" with Austin Trigg, a consultant with Renal Care Group, Inc. ("RCG"), asked for strategies for dealing with the competition, and inquired about whistle blower immunity. (Doc. 469, ¶¶ 136, 140).
When SGDS opened its competing facilities, the Hospital, including Defendant Beverly, implemented a policy whereby Hospital employees would not be...
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