A gynecologic oncologist has filed a lawsuit against his former employer, Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Hospital, and associated entities, alleging they made a premature report that hindered his future employment opportunities.
Named among the defendants are Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare and its operating division Mission HCA, which purchased the hospital in 2019, and ANC Healthcare, which was created to handle litigation against the hospital prior to the sale.
David John Hetzel, MD, was employed by Mission Hospital from 2013 to 2020, according to court documents filed June 9. He resigned in February 2019, but that resignation was not effective until July 2020 when he could be replaced with a newly trained physician.
On Jan. 13, 2020, Dr. Hetzel alleges he received a letter that he was on "final warning status" for an alleged lack of participation in Mission Cancer Center Breast conferences, although he regularly attended a second weekly breast conference at Mission's Hope Women's Cancer Center.
Dr. Hetzel performed surgery to debulk a gynecological tumor in a patient's abdomen on March 2, 2020. During the surgery, he observed the tumor had affected the bowel and colon, resulting in an enterotomy near the duodenum. He involved a hepatobiliary surgeon and surgical oncologist, who debulked the tumor until they had removed the patient's colon and all of the small bowel with high blood loss, according to court documents.
The next day, Dr. Hetzel was placed on precautionary suspension because of the complication and two other intraoperative organ injuries to patients in the previous six months. He was "puzzled" since his portion of the surgery was successful, according to the lawsuit.
An investigation ensued. In May 2020, while the investigation was pending, the hospital allegedly reported Dr. Hetzel to the National Practitioner's Databank, a database operated by HHS and used by medical entities to make hiring, licensing and credentialing decisions.
The following month, the investigation concluded that Dr. Hetzel had met the applicable care standards and restored his privileges, although he opted not to return to the hospital, according to court documents.
Dr. Hetzel's reputation has been "improperly and irreversibly marred" by the report to the databank, according to court documents. He has been unable to find employment or become licensed in another state, although the hospital's investigation did not find him at fault.
However, the hospital defends its report.
"We disagree with the allegations in the complaint and believe that Mission Hospital’s report to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) was appropriate and consistent with the hospital’s reporting obligations under federal law," Nancy Lidell, spokesperson for Mission Health, told Becker's.
Dr. Hetzel is suing the defendants for three times compensatory damages or $250,000 — whichever is greater — on charges of libel; breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing; interference with prospective economic advantage; intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress; and punitive damages.
Editor's Note: This article was updated July 5 to include a new statement from Mission Health.