Dr. Donna Tesi files suit alleging damages by FFH

By COLIN MURPHEY
A former employee of Franklin Foundation Hospital is suing St. Mary Parish Hospital District No. 1, the hospital, Quorum Health Resources which is the company that manages FFH, as well as the hospital’s CEO and QHR employee Craig Cudworth.
According to documents filed in 16th Judicial District Court and obtained by the Banner-Tribune, Dr. Donna Tesi “…as a result of the negligent and substandard conduct of (the) defendants” has suffered emotional distress; past, present and future lost income and limitation of her present and future employment opportunities, in addition to other damages.
The documents further state, Tesi is seeking “general and special damages” in addition to “any other damages allowed by statute with legal interest thereon from judicial demand until paid, reasonable attorney’s fees, plus all costs of these proceedings and for such further and other legal and equitable relief as the court shall deem necessary and proper.”
The lawsuit stems from Tesi’s stated claim in the suit that “the hostile and toxic environment created by the actions of FFH, Quorum and Cudworth made it medically inadvisable that Dr. Tesi perform surgeries at FFH. She has, however, made reasonable efforts to mitigate her damages by serving as an ER physician at FFH and providing hospitalist coverage when another physician is absent.”
The court documents continue, “At all times relevant to the claims asserted herein Dr. Tesi has been an active member with unrestricted privileges to admit, treat and discharge patients as a physician at FFH. She has never been disciplined by either the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners (LSBME) or the Medical Staff of FFH pursuant to Medical Staff Bylaws.”
“On July 28, 2015, Cudworth asked Dr. Tesi to step down as Chief of Staff. Dr. Tesi declined as she had no doubt as to the truth of the reasons given to her why she should step down, which primarily focused on record keeping and peer review tasks. Mr. Cudworth, when asked later in a FFH Board executive meeting what he planned to do if Dr. Tesi did not voluntarily step down as Chief of Staff replied, ‘Embarrass her in front of her peers!’
“On August 19, 2015, Cudworth informed Dr. Tesi that she was being removed as Chief of Staff by the FFH Board. She was thus deprived of the rights and responsibilities of a physician holding active staff privileges at FFH to hold medical staff office and/or serve on medical staff committees, including, but not limited to the Medical Executive Committee.”
Also, according to court documents, “On August 25, 2015, during a public session of the FFH Board, Cudworth stated that Dr. Tesi had been removed or ‘taken down’ as Chief of Staff. He cited four reasons; incomplete charts, peer review issues, OPPE and FPPE obligations and an LSBME investigation. (The LSBME investigation was the result of a letter by FFH to the LSBME which acknowledged in its body that the conduct at issue was almost certainly not a proper subject of professional licensure disciplinary action. Additionally, LSBME complaints are supposed to be made confidentially and remain confidential unless formal charges are filed. Formal charges were never filed and the investigation has been terminated without any action by the LSBME against Dr. Tesi.) Cudworth incorrectly stated that the allegations disqualified Dr. Tesi or rendered her ineligible to serve as Chief of Staff.
“Dr. Tesi was provided with a letter signed by Cudworth stating that she had been removed as Chief of Staff for the peer review, practice evaluation and chart maintenance reasons previously mentioned but did not provide any information concerning her due process or hearing rights.”
“The purported reasons for Dr. Tesi’s removal as Chief of Staff were nothing more than a pretext for ill intentioned actions by FFH, Quorum and/or Cudworth to damage Dr. Tesi’s employment and business interests despite defendants knowing that the reasons given were untrue and/or not sufficient under the Medical Staff Bylaws to justify removal of a Chief of Staff. This is particularly true in light of the fact that none of the purported reasons were brought to Dr. Tesi’s attention, even verbally, prior to Cudworth informing her that she was being removed as Chief of Staff.
“Additionally, upon information and belief, Cudworth and his employer, Quorum, were negligent in their investigation of the purported reasons for removal of Dr. Tesi as Chief of Staff and negligently failed to issue corrective statements when they learned the truth concerning those matters. Rather, in November of 2015 Cudworth stated to the press that Dr. Tesi was ‘not in good standing’ which was a false statement designed to further the various torts defendants had committed.”
The documents conclude, “Dr. Tesi has more recently been re-elected as Chief of Staff but FFH, Quorum and Cudworth have refused to recognize this election citing the Medical Staff Bylaws which were ignored previously by them. Although the validity of the reasons given is denied, the citation to the Medical Staff Bylaws is taken as an admission against interest by the defendants that those bylaws are controlling as to the eligibility of a physician to obtain, retain and exercise medical staff privileges, as well as certain due process rights if action is taken against those privileges.”
Attempts to reach Cudworth for comment were unsuccessful.
Information about the future of the suit was not immediately available.