Two physicians recently sued Hay, Kan.-based HaysMed, alleging issues in the noncompete clauses of their employment contracts.
On Dec. 6, HaysMed filed a counterclaim against one of the plaintiffs, Jerod Grove, MD, a general surgeon who alleged that the noncompete clause in his contract was restricting him from practicing medicine in western Kansas and left his position Nov. 12. Shortly thereafter, he signed a contract with Greeley Health to work at Tribune (Kan.) Medical Center. HaysMed's administration, citing a board directive, then enforced the noncompete clause, effectively barring Dr. Grove from practicing at Tribune or other locations in the region, according to the report.
In its counterclaim, the hospital alleges that Dr. Grove breached his contract, which restricts him from working within a certain distance of HaysMed. The hospital further claims that Dr. Grove planned to leave HaysMed to work in Tribune, a move it argues violated the noncompete agreement.
HaysMed also asserts that this breach led Greeley County to terminate its four-year agreement with the hospital. As a result, the hospital has filed a third-party complaint against Greeley County Health Services, accusing it of interfering with the contract.
The other lawsuit was filed by oncologist Robert Rodriguez, MD, who plans to leave HaysMed by February, according to a Dec. 29 report by KWCH 12 News.
According to the report, the filings have raised concerns among healthcare professionals in western Kansas, who told KWCH that noncompetes and restrictive covenants complicate an already challenging recruitment environment in the region.
"There’s an abundance of medical need. There’s an abundance of need. And if you’d think about your grandmother. Where would you rather have her go? You’d rather have her go to a local town, and then if she had to have care, then you’d rather have her go to a regional center," Donald Tillman, DO, a dermatologist at Great Plains Dermatology, also located in Hays, told the publication.
Charles Comeau, chair of the board of the Rooks County Health Center, also noted the difficulties with recruiting physicians in Western Kansas. Neither the Rooks County Health Center nor Great Plains Dermatology have restrictive covenants.
In the lawsuits filed by Dr. Grove and Dr. Rodriguez, the physicians said that their two-year noncompetes extend 110 miles around Hays and 30 miles from where they may have done outreach at a hospital for HaysMed. They argue that part of the reason they are seeking to prevent enforcement of the restrictive covenant is the limited number of physicians in their specialties in the region.
"We must make our decisions based on what is best for HaysMed and our patients. This includes our approach to physician contracting," the hospital said in a Dec. 5 statement. "Like most hospitals, HaysMed requires noncompete agreements. We are not unique in that regard. Moreover, this is not a new practice. This has been our practice since the early 1990s, which has served HaysMed and our patients well by enabling HaysMed to provide assurances to our patients that the hospital and its clinics have the medical staff and expertise to provide needed care."