Ruling on Ventura Doctors’ Lawsuit Delayed

Though stopping short of a final ruling, a Ventura County Superior Court judge said Wednesday that he considered the medical staff at Community Memorial Hospital a legal entity that could sue the hospital for allegedly infringing on doctors’ rights to oversee medical affairs.

If Judge Henry Walsh follows through on that tentative finding, the Ventura hospital’s rebellious doctors will be able to continue a lawsuit that both sides say could make new law in California.

Doctors maintain that they are a legally independent arm of the medical center whose authority has been undermined by administrators, while the hospital argues that its medical staff is solely an advisory body that gains its power only from the hospital board of trustees, not from law.

After an hourlong hearing Wednesday morning, Walsh delayed a final ruling to review the results of two cases cited by Community Memorial, and to read a stack of arguments recently filed by doctor and hospital industry associations.

The doctors say an adverse ruling could harm their ability to act on behalf of patients, while the hospital says a loss could make it impossible for governing boards to run medical centers for the good of all.

Early in the hearing, Walsh indicated that he would rule for the medical staff. It “is an association that has standing as an unincorporated association.... They may bring the action.”

Community Memorial has been embroiled in an internal fight for more than a year, as the 242-bed hospital has tightened controls over its medical staff and physicians have bristled at what they consider an erosion of their rights. After attempts at mediation, a group of physicians led by a majority of the medical staff executive committee filed suit in April.

Doctors specifically contend that administrators tried to rig a staff election, adopted an 18-page code of conduct to stifle dissent, implemented a conflict-of-interest policy to disqualify select physicians from leadership positions and illegally allowed physicians to practice at the hospital without the staff’s review.

The hospital maintains that the dispute is purely financial, and is being pressed in large part by doctors with conflicts of interests that take business away from the hospital.

Walsh’s ruling is expected in the next few days.