Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall in Newburgh, N.Y., is facing a $21 million lawsuit filed by an anesthesiologist group that claims the hospital breached an exclusive contract to use the group's physicians for its anesthesia services, the Westfair Business Journal reported July 3.
The complaint was filed by Mid-Hudson Anesthesiologists in June in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and accuses Montefiore of breaches of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets. Court dockets show a judge granted permission to file the case under seal.
The complaint, of which the Business Journal obtained a "heavily redacted" copy, alleges that the hospital requested sensitive financial information in 2020, about a year before its deal with MHA was set to expire. The anesthesia group alleges that Montefiore St. Luke's was secretly negotiating with its competitor, Envision Healthcare, at the same time.
"Rather than employ 'best efforts' to maintain their relationship with MHA, defendants employed rapacious efforts to destroy MHA relying upon misappropriated financial data obtained under false pretenses," the complaint states, according to the news outlet.
In a statement shared with Becker's, a Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall spokesperson said the hospital "does not provide information relating to litigation."
The complaint claims MHA's exclusive deal with St. Luke's barred it from pursuing contracts for its services with five hospitals within 20 miles of St. Luke's, and that in June 2021, the hospital canceled negotiations with Envision and contracted with Montefiore's Faculty Practice Group for anesthesia services.
About two-thirds of MHA members allegedly left in a two-month period, and one physician agreed to employment at St. Luke's.