Tri-City Medical Center Drops 4-Year Long Lawsuit Against Scripps Health

Tri-City Medical Center sent the following statement about ending the lawsuit saying it will focus resources on patient care:

Considering the changes that have occurred over the past four years since a lawsuit was filed against Scripps Health, especially regarding the inception and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, senior leadership at Tri-City Medical Center and the Tri-City Healthcare District Board felt the residents of its district would be better served by focusing additional resources towards the continued improvement in Quality and Outcomes measures and ending its lawsuit.

 “We strongly believe that dropping the lawsuit was in the best interests of our patients. We have made significant progress in patient outcomes where we are scouring 1% of hospitals nationwide for the lowest heart attack readmissions; 2% nationwide for the lowest heart failure readmissions and 3% nationwide for the lowest pneumonia readmissions,” says Larry Schallock, Chair of the Tri-City Healthcare District Board of Directors. “Our commitment to the community we serve is to move all of our medical indicators to the top 90th percentile and we are committing all of our time and efforts on achieving that objective.”

Scripps Health sent this statement to Patch regarding Tri-City Medical Center's decision to end the lawsuit:

The Tri-City Medical Center has decided to end its lawsuit against Scripps Health. The action means Tri-City will end its appeal of a decision earlier this year by the Superior Court of California to dismiss their lawsuit.

Tri-City’s attorney commented in a letter to Scripps clarifying the dismissal that Tri-City hopes the dismissal will bring a “new chapter of cooperation between our hospitals for the mutual benefit of our patients.”

Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of Scripps Health, enthusiastically agreed.

“We applaud Tri-City for this decision,” Van Gorder said. “Now, both of our organizations can place our full focus and resources on meeting the health care needs of the community.”