Saint Mary's parent company, Prime Healthcare Services is suing Renown Health for allegedly creating a monopoly on cardiovascular care in Northern Nevada.
According to a December 7th court filing, Renown Health allegedly pulled out of a contract with Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in which Renown workers would provide cardiovascular care services to Saint Mary's.
The filing for Saint Mary’s says, “for three years, it has relied on cardiovascular surgery services of doctors working for Renown Medical Group, which are critical to the program’s operations and ability to provide necessary heart care to seriously ill patients.”
The suit alleges that Renown "terminated the relationship on short notice..."
It goes on to say that under their written contract, if a change is made or services are eliminated, Renown must give Saint Mary’s “plenty of advance notice before ending the program” so that it can arrange for replacements.
Saint Mary's says Renown's decision left a hole in its cardiovascular program and that it eliminated competition in Northern Nevada.
The filing says Saint Mary’s demands a jury.
In response to the lawsuit, a Renown spokesperson provided 2 News with the following statement:
“Renown Health’s Cardiothoracic Surgery Program has decided not to renew an expiring contract with St. Mary’s/Prime Healthcare, aligning with our commitment to our clinicians and to enhance patient care. As the region’s sole not-for-profit healthcare system, this decision reflects our unwavering dedication to maintaining the highest standards in healthcare while fostering a supportive environment for our healthcare professionals. We remain steadfast in our mission to provide exceptional and compassionate care to our community. Experienced cardiothoracic surgeons (Athan Roumanas, MD; Kimball Knackstedt, DO; and Katherine Jones, MD) will continue to offer assessment, diagnosis, complex surgery, and post-surgical care exclusively to patients at Renown’s Institute for Heart & Vascular Health and at Renown Regional Medical Center.”
