News 29: Former top UVA Health officials seek dismissal of lawsuit amid push for more transparency on Grounds
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Former University of Virginia Health CEO Craig Kent and other higher-ups are asking a federal judge to dismiss the civil suit filed against them.
The complaint, filed in October, accuses Kent and certain members of his leadership team of putting patients and doctors at risk to increase profits and improve rankings.
Lawyers representing two widows and multiple doctors accuse Kent and his team of a “hostile takeover of a revered medical system by a cadre of individuals determined to maximize revenues and rankings,” and argue that this behavior caused the death of two patients. The lawsuit alleges fraudulent “billing practices and falsification of medical records” in violation of the Racketeering and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO Act. The UVA Board of Visitors, the UVA Physicians Group, and the Commonwealth are also defendants in this suit.
“The focus became not on quality, not on patients, but on rankings and money,” said Les Bowers, an attorney with Michie Hamlett, one of the firms representing the plaintiffs in this case.
