A judge has dismissed a 2008 lawsuit filed by Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, Calif., that claimed an attorney and accountants covered up the former CEO's alleged financial impropriety, according to a Ventura County Star report.
Ventura County Superior Court Judge Kent Kellegrew said the hospital waited too long to make allegations against former lawyer Peter Goldenring and his law firm, Goldenring & Prosser. The suit claimed accountants conspired with Mr. Goldenring to conceal information regarding alleged gifts to physicians, personal expenses billed to the hospital and other financial activities allegedly made by former top administrator Michael Bakst.
In 2007, CMH paid the federal government approximately $1.5 million to settle allegations that physicians were rewarded for referring Medicare patients to the hospital. In 2009, Mr. Bakst agreed to pay the government $64,000. Neither the former CEO nor the hospital admitted wrongdoing.
Mr. Goldenring said the judgment was vindication and proof that the suit never should have been filed. He claims the hospital's board was pressured to file suit by board members that were "militant" physicians, according to the report.
A CMH attorney said the hospital plans to appeal the ruling, since Judge Kellegrew didn't weigh the merits of the case but only its timeliness, according to the report.
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Ventura County Superior Court Judge Kent Kellegrew said the hospital waited too long to make allegations against former lawyer Peter Goldenring and his law firm, Goldenring & Prosser. The suit claimed accountants conspired with Mr. Goldenring to conceal information regarding alleged gifts to physicians, personal expenses billed to the hospital and other financial activities allegedly made by former top administrator Michael Bakst.
In 2007, CMH paid the federal government approximately $1.5 million to settle allegations that physicians were rewarded for referring Medicare patients to the hospital. In 2009, Mr. Bakst agreed to pay the government $64,000. Neither the former CEO nor the hospital admitted wrongdoing.
Mr. Goldenring said the judgment was vindication and proof that the suit never should have been filed. He claims the hospital's board was pressured to file suit by board members that were "militant" physicians, according to the report.
A CMH attorney said the hospital plans to appeal the ruling, since Judge Kellegrew didn't weigh the merits of the case but only its timeliness, according to the report.
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