The largest independent cardiac care center in the mid-Willamette Valley is suing Salem Health, accusing the nonprofit of monopolizing heart care in the Salem area and trying to intimidate competitors out of the market.
According to the lawsuit, the hospital pressured patients to switch providers while still in their hospital beds, limited referrals and access to information about independent cardiologists and has spread misinformation about the clinic through the local health care community.
Oregon Heart Center’s lawsuit, filed Sept. 11 in the Marion County Circuit Court, also names Salem Health CEO Cheryl Wolfe, claiming she disparaged the clinic in a newsletter to the local medical community.
The lawsuit asks for a total of $15 million in damages from Salem Health, including $10 million for Salem Health’s alleged efforts to monopolize the cardiology market, and $5 million for defamation.
The clinic accuses Salem Health of violating state antitrust regulations. The lawsuit asks the court to order Salem health to stop engaging in anticompetitive practices and efforts to “drive OHC out of business.”
READ IT: Oregon Heart Center lawsuit against Salem Health
The Oregon Heart Center “has been forced to file this lawsuit to stop Salem Health’s ongoing campaign of exclusion and intimidation that has caused and will continue to cause serious harm” to the heart center and the health care profession locally “if left unchecked,” the lawsuit said.
Salem Health spokeswoman Lisa Wood said in an emailed statement to Salem Reporter Monday that the hospital is offering more cardiology services to meet community needs.
“Expanding access to excellent, patient-centered cardiology care is good for patients and for our community. It’s a shame our colleagues at Oregon Heart Center don’t see it that way. We have a long history of supporting and collaborating with community physicians to ensure high quality, accessible care,” Wood said.
She did not respond to specific questions about claims in the lawsuit, including whether Salem Health removed independent cardiologists from its website or terminated a lease in Dallas for the Oregon Heart Center.
“We are disappointed that Oregon Heart Center chose time-consuming litigation that will divert resources and attention away from patient care instead of resolving their concerns with Salem Health collegially, especially in light of the fact that we had agreed to mediation,” Wood said.
Oregon Heart Center’s attorney, Stanton Gallegos, said in a Monday email to Salem Reporter that he would not comment on the suit beyond the information included in the complaint.
Oregon Heart Center employs 12 providers serving the Salem area, according to the lawsuit. Its main office is at 610 Hawthorne Ave. S.E., with additional locations in Dallas, Stayton and Grand Ronde.
Salem Health employs over 5,800 people in Salem, making it the city’s largest private employer, according to the hospital’s website. It also operates the busiest emergency department in the state. Salem Hospital and Salem Health West Valley Hospital brought in over $1 billion in net patient revenue in 2023, according to Oregon Health Authority data.
Salem Health has expanded in recent years. In 2022, it added 150 beds with a new hospital tower. Last fall, it absorbed Hope Orthopedics and its three clinics, becoming the area’s main provider of bone care, which the lawsuit cited as an example of the hospital’s consolidation efforts.
According to the lawsuit, Salem Health and Oregon Heart Center “had coexisted in Salem for many years” until recently. Cardiologists from the clinic had served in leadership roles at Salem Hospital, with a common goal of improving community health outcomes. The two organizations had an agreement to share patient records.
Wolfe said that agreement would not be renewed when it expires next year, in a June “Common Ground” newsletter to the Salem Health staff and administration which was cited in the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims the newsletter reaches most people working in health care in Salem.
“Despite past differences, Salem Health has a long history of supporting and collaborating with local practices to improve care. However, (Oregon Heart Center) has demonstrated a persistent unwillingness to collaborate with Salem Health. Further, it has disparaged the quality of Salem Health and its physicians. To publicly malign without a factual basis the quality of our surgeons and our CT program will not be tolerated,” Wolfe wrote.
In 2022, Oregon Heart Center and Cascade Cardiology opened a new surgical center. Salem Health was to be a partner in the center, the lawsuit said, which would provide another option for outpatient surgeries in the community.
Salem Health wanted majority control of the surgical center, the lawsuit said, and threatened to drive the independent practices out if they didn’t agree. When the other clinics refused, Salem Health withdrew from the plans, the lawsuit said.
“After years of unsuccessfully trying to eliminate its competition, Salem Health has resorted to using its monopoly on hospital care and anticompetitive agreements with providers and insurers to try to drive (Oregon Heart Center) and other outside cardiologists out of the market or force them to capitulate to Salem Health’s attempts to take over their practice,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit claims Salem Health has pressured its providers to not refer patients to cardiologists at Oregon Heart Center, and has set up its referral systems to send patients to Salem Health cardiologists by default.
That includes when a patient comes into the emergency room if the “on call” cardiologist is independent, according to the lawsuit. The hospital also pressured patients to switch to Salem Health from Oregon Heart Center, according to the lawsuit.
“Salem Health is taking these steps with the goal of taking over the two remaining independent cardiology practices or running them out of business,” the lawsuit said.
Wolfe is being sued for her statements in the “Common Ground” newsletter.
In the newsletter, Wolfe said Salem Health has seen a decline in cardiac surgeries because the independent cardiology groups began referring patients to Portland.
“The change in this referral pattern happened the moment Salem Health and the independent cardiology practices were unable to agree to a joint venture and Salem Health opened its own cardiology practice,” Wolfe said in the newsletter.
Wolfe said in the newsletter that Salem Health will not renew its contract with Oregon Heart Center to share records because “Oregon Heart Center (OHC) does not share our vision of a successful, sustainable, local health care system that will meet the long-term needs of our community.”
The lawsuit claims that the cancellation of the contract will lead to longer patient wait times. Wolfe, in the newsletter, said that the clinic’s providers will still have access to Salem Health’s records, but the hospital will no longer support the clinic’s system.
That newsletter led to canceled appointments and the loss of referrals at Oregon Heart, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims she has told providers in the community that the heart center was greedy during negotiations over the new surgery center.
Oregon Heart Clinic also claims that Salem Health and Wolfe blamed the clinic for the suicide of a former Salem Health surgeon. The complaint contained no details about when this happened.
Already, the clinic claims it has lost patients and hiring opportunities due to the statements from Salem Health.
“Salem Health has made it clear that its behavior is not about collaboration or doing what is best for the Salem healthcare community. It is about one thing: ensuring that surgical procedures are handled by Salem Health providers in Salem Health facilities to increase profits,” the lawsuit said.
Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.
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Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian, where she covered labor issues, health care and social services. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.
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