Laf-ter not the best medicine
Dueling hospital districts head to court.
Inyo County has filed suit against Mammoth Hospital and the Southern Mono Healthcare District over Mammoth’s orthopedic clinic in Bishop.
The suit claims that the district, which is Mammoth Hospital, has been illegally providing services outside of its boundaries and without authorization from the Inyo County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO). Inyo LAFCO filed the suit.
Inyo is asking the court to, 1) void any and all agreements by Mammoth to operate in Inyo, 2) have Mammoth file an appropriate application and approval from LAFCO before continuing any operations in Inyo, 3) consider Mammoth’s actions unlawful and void any contracts to provide healthcare services in Inyo and, 4) suspend Mammoth’s operations in Bishop with a temporary or permanent injunction.
Mammoth has been offering orthopedic services in Bishop since 2003. Dr. John Perry was called in from Mammoth Hospital, primarily to backfill a need of orthopedic specialists at Northern Inyo Hospital. The contract with Perry ended in 2010 but Mammoth continued working at a space on the NIH campus.
NIH sent a letter to Mammoth on Nov. 29, 2011 stating Mammoth’s use of the office space could not continue.
Mammoth then branched off with a physical therapy clinic on West Line Street, evidently without permission and without the further need for orthopedic services at NIH. Mammoth opened a single clinic in June on Main Street in Bishop, consolidating its orthopedic service and its physical therapy clinic to one building. Last week, the clinic started offering urology, “another lucrative practice area” according to the suit.
NIH CEO Alexander-Lane explained in an interview with The Sheet in June that orthopedic services are one of the last areas for profit at hospitals as it is one of the only non life-threatening procedures people are willing to spend money on.
The act of giving Mammoth permission to operate in Inyo is at the center of this debate. Mammoth claims it was given a verbal and handshake agreement with NIH to operate in Bishop. There has never been a document as to such an agreement.
The suit was filed August 4 in Inyo County Superior Court. California LAFCO Section 56133 is cited in the suit, “A city may provide new or extended services by contract or agreement outside its jurisdictional boundaries only if it first requests and receives written approval from the commission in the affected county.”
Inyo has used everything it has to get Mammoth to cooperate, according to the suit. It also claims Mammoth is cherry picking the areas most lucrative procedures, orthopedics, and undermining NIH’s ability to provide affordable services. “Accordingly, Petitioners (Inyo County and NIH) had no recourse but to file this litigation.”
Mammoth Hospital CEO Gary Myers commented, ““I think it is very sad that any public hospital board and administration would attempt to limit the choice of physicians for the public that they serve.” NIH CEO Victoria Alexander-Lane told The Sheet that even though it was the county that filed the suit, hospital counsel has advised her against making comment.
