The future of Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls may be inching closer to being resolved.
A Summit County judge this week issued an order imposing a jury verdict that’s been hanging in limbo since July, while at the same time denying a new trial to sort out the legal entanglement between Summa Health System and Western Reserve Hospital Partners (WRHP).
The ruling by Summit County Judge Lynne Callahan could clear a path for Summa to sell its minority stake in Western Reserve Hospital.
WRHP operates the Cuyahoga Falls hospital.
This is the second legal case involving Summa to move forward this week. On Wednesday, a three-year battle between Summa and the Wadsworth-Rittman Area Joint Township Hospital District ended with an out-of-court settlement that, among other things, allows the hospital district to seek a new partner that would return the Medina County facility to a full-service hospital.
Action in the WRHP case and Wadsworth-Rittman case happened the week after Summa CEO and President Dr. Thomas Malone submitted his resignation following a month of public conflict with more than 250 physicians who signed a no-confidence letter calling for his ouster.
Malone’s impending departure — he agreed to work up to 60 days after his resignation to smooth a leadership transition — doesn’t appear connected to action in either case.
Yet some of Malone’s supporters have suggested for weeks that the physician-led move to get rid of Malone may have been rooted in WRHP’s litigation with Summa. Some — but not all — of the doctors who have been critical of Malone’s leadership are part of WRHP.
At the same time, some critical of Malone have pointed out that Summa in recent months failed to renew contracts with some physician groups whose members are affiliated with WRHP, including Summa Emergency Associates, the group that until New Year’s Day had staffed Summa’s ERs.
Friday, Summa’s Chief Operating Officer Valerie Gibson sent a memo to Summa staff explaining some of the details of the judge’s ruling this week. Among other things, the judge upheld a jury verdict awarding Summa $906,464 in compensatory damages for a breach of the management services agreement with WRHP.
Gibson in her memo pointed out a “number of investors in Western Reserve Hospital have been engaged in very public criticism of Summa over the last several weeks.”
Some of those investors “have been called into question for having been paid for full-time services they acknowledged under oath they did not perform on a full-time basis.
“This reinforces the position we have maintained over the last month, that many of these detractors are motivated by self-interest at the expense of the future of Summa Health,” Gibson said.
Dr. Gary Pinta and Dr. Charles Fuenning worked full-time as vice president of quality and as chief medical officer, respectively, for the hospital.
Between 2009 and 2016, a full-time hospital team took over the same duties, yet Summa continued to pay WRHP as if Pinta and Fuenning remained in place. A jury determined that breached the contract and awarded $906,464.
Pinta, an internal medicine physician, is president of Pioneer Physician Network, a group of 39 doctors who submitted a no-confidence letter in Malone’s leadership. Pinta also is part of WRHP.
Pinta on Friday defended the full-time team at Western Reserve Hospital, saying its work scored 3- and 4-star ratings from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, higher than that of Summa’s Akron City.
Moreover, Pinta said, what’s happening at Western Reserve has nothing to do with what’s happening at Summa.
Fuenning is physician director of Respiratory, Critical Care, Sleep Associates (RCSA), a member of Unity Health Network, based in Cuyahoga Falls. About 120 doctors with Unity Health Network also signed a no-confidence letter in Malone.
Fuenning on Friday also denied any connection between his criticism of Malone and the fallout between Summa and WRHP.
“If Summa wants to blame all their woes on Pinta and myself, they can, but we don’t have that kind of influence,” Fuenning said.
Fuenning said he has been active in Summa since 1986, when it was still operating at Akron City Hospital.
In late June 2016, just as the lawsuit between Summa and WRHP was heading to trial, Summa notified Fuenning that it wasn’t renewing its contract with the 11 physicians of RCSA group.
RCSA’s contract expired in early January.
Friday, WRHP appeared poised to challenge parts of the judge’s latest ruling.
“The recent media coverage detailing mismanagement issues at Summa Health has allowed the public some insight into the type of situations Western Reserve Hospital has been attempting to work through for several years,” the statement said.
The statement concluded by saying Western Reserve Hospital hoped recent leadership changes at Summa “signaled a renewed interest toward resolving this dispute.”
Amanda Garrett can be reached at 330-996-3725 or agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com.