A former San Juan County Hospital doctor and the hospital's former chief financial officer have filed separate federal civil rights lawsuits alleging hospital administrators engaged in a conspiracy to monopolize the county's health-care services for their own benefit.
"This conspiracy has been effectuated through the intimidation, harassment and constructive discharge of any doctor or hospital administrator who does not acquiesce to the defendants' improper administration of health-care services," both lawsuits state.Filed in U.S. District Court Wednesday by Dr. Robert M. Mena and Mary Nielson, the lawsuits list at the head of the alleged conspiracy the former and current chief executive officers of the San Juan Health Services District, the county agency that owns and operates the hospital.
Also listed as co-defendants in the lawsuits are a combined total of 15 health district board members, hospital administrators and doctors, and 40 additional John and Jane Does.
"The result of this conspiracy has been an inability on the part of the Health District to maintain the long-term services of a full-time physician for over 20 years," the lawsuits state.
"The reason why no one has stayed is because a very small group of individuals want to retain a monopoly over the
health care in San Juan County and don't want anyone from the outside who may be a competitor or a potential competitor to operate and practice medicine in that county," said attorney Peter Stirba, who represents both Mena and Nielson.
Salt Lake attorney Blaine Benard, representing the health district and its administrators, said he had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment Thursday.
Mena, who is Hispanic, began to work at the hospital in October 1998 and about a month later qualified for provisional medical and staff privileges under the health district's bylaws, according to his lawsuit.
But within months, some administrators began to express their intent to revoke Mena's clinical privileges at the hospital, and his patients began to be treated "on a lower priority basis than patients of other, white, health-care providers," the lawsuit states.
When Mena learned at a public health meeting in May 1999 that his contract would not be renewed due to his "inadequate production of revenue," he resigned and began a private practice.
In November, he tried to renew his hospital privileges, but neither health district CEO Cleal Bradford nor any of the other administrators have responded to his repeated attempts at what is normally a "routine request" for clinical privileges, the lawsuit alleges. "We have not a clue as to why they have been absolutely silent," Benard said.
Nielson's lawsuit alleges that she was fired because she "made a number of discoveries regarding the defendants' improper administration of health-care services" shortly after taking over the position of chief financial officer toward the end of 1998.
Among those findings, the lawsuit states, is that former health district CEO Richard M. Bailey was "double dipping" into salaries for his position with the health district and as an administrator for the county despite the fact that an individual hired to work in the hospital's management team had responsibilities "essentially the same as defendant Bailey's."
Nielson also reported to the health district board of trustees and county commission that the district and hospital were on the verge of bankruptcy and that tax information had been "misreported" from 1995 through 1998, which "resulted in the health district owing nearly $1 million in taxes, interests and penalties," the lawsuit states.
After Bailey resigned in June, his replacement, Bradford, fired Nielson on the grounds that her position was being eliminated, the lawsuit states. A month later, the health district hired a financial consultant to perform the same duties as the chief financial officer.
Both lawsuits seek unspecified damages but claim the defendants' actions have greatly interfered with Nielson's and Mena's ability to earn a living. Nielson has not been able to get a job since her discharge from the health district, and Mena depends on his clinical privileges at the hospital to treat patients.
This is not the first time the health district has come under fire. Last year, three current and former employees at a clinic ran by the district in Montezuma Creek filed a civil action alleging freedom of speech violations, racial discrimination and endangering the health and public safety of patients.
As a result of that action, a Navajo District Court judge temporarily banned health officials, including Nielson, from the clinic.