Oregon Heart Center, an independent cardiology practice in Salem, has filed a $15 million antitrust and defamation lawsuit against Salem Health, according to a Sept. 12 report from the Portland Business Journal.
The lawsuit accuses Salem Health of "resorting to intimidation tactics, false information and anticompetitive conduct in its effort to take over the market."
Oregon Heart claims that the system is either trying to absorb it or force it out of business.
"OHC has been forced to file this lawsuit to stop Salem Health’s ongoing campaign of exclusion and intimidation that has caused and will continue to cause serious harm to both OHC and the Salem health care community, if left unchecked," said the complaint, filed in Marion County Circuit Court. "In short, Salem Health has chosen intimidation and coercion over competition on the merits."
Salem Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Journal. Becker's has reached out for comment and will update the story if more information becomes available.
Salem Health currently operates the only hospital in Salem, with 500 staffed beds and one of the busiest emergency rooms on the West Coast, according to the report.
OHC, which has 12 providers, alleged that Salem Health has spread false information about the practice, such as that it is "intentionally harming Salem Health, that OHC has acted greedily and fraudulently and even that OHC caused a Salem Health provider to take his own life."
"Salem Health is motivated to try to push OHC out of business because, according to Salem Health, OHC does not refer a large enough number of surgical procedures to Salem Health. If Salem Health is able to monopolize the cardiology market, it can ensure that it will receive all the cardiac surgical work as well. While good for Salem Health, this creates higher costs and fewer choices in health care for people in the Salem area," the complaint said.
In 2020, OHC, Salem Health and Cascade Cardiology were in discussions to jointly open an ASC.
The lawsuit alleges that Salem Health "demanded majority control of the center and was not willing to negotiate on other terms."
OHC and Cascade jointly opened an ASC in 2022 without the hospital system.