A Texas jury has awarded Prexus Health, an ASC and hospital development and management company, $7.8 million in its lawsuit against a Houston hospital that Prexus claims stole a pair executives and then breached a contract.
In the suit filed in state court in December 2009, Ohio-based Prexus alleged that a few months after University General Hospital hired Prexus for coding and billing services and hospital management consulting, the hospital and affiliated Luxxus Health Systems hired away Prexus's chief financial officer, Mike Griffon, and then its chief investment officer, Rusty Shelton, CMPE, according to Prexus's attorney Jonathan Childers. "They set up a competing company," said Mr. Childers. "They used the employees to provide the exact same services."
According to Mr. Childers, Luxxus Health Systems was run by Hassan Chahadeh, MD, who is now chairman of the for-profit University General Hospital, which became a publicly traded company in April. Mr. Griffon is now chief financial officer at University General, and Mr. Shelton is chief development officer, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The trial lasted 2 and a half weeks and ended on April 26. Kelly Riedel, PMP, chief executive of the hospital, pointed out that although the case has been decided by the jury, the judge has yet to give final judgment.
"We strongly believe that the judgment that has yet to be rendered by the judge will be substantially less than what the verdict was," Mr. Riedel told Outpatient Surgery Magazine, adding that we was not able to comment further on the case. "An appeal will be filed in a timely manner post-judgment."
Kent Steinriede
