Management at Jackson, Wyo.-based St. John's Hospital have reached an agreement with a current physician board member over a noncompete conflict, averting the need for a possible trial and payment of up to $260,000, according to a Nov. 30 report in the Jackson Hole News & Guide.
Brent Blue, MD, who was sworn in less than two weeks ago to be a hospital trustee, continued to practice medicine independently after he sold his business to the hospital in Sept. 2020, St. John's alleged. While he worked as an independent contractor with the hospital for a year after the sale, he later continued to see patients in Jackson in violation of the noncompete, the hospital claims.
As part of the settlement, Dr. Blue agreed to stop practicing in Teton County, Wyo., and St. John's dropped its request that Dr. Blue pay $260,000 for violating the noncompete agreement.
Dr. Blue will continue to practice in accordance with the noncompete agreement about 25 miles away in Teton County, Idaho, where he set up a clinic in an apartment next to his aircraft hangar, the report said.