On the heels of being accused of leading a “hostile takeover” of the University of Virginia Health System, its former CEO is pushing back, calling the allegations against him “absurd, baseless, and motivated by greed.”
Dr. Craig Kent is among other now-gone UVa Health officials named in a 100-plus-page suit filed Oct. 3 in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Virginia by the widows of two dead UVa patients and a handful of doctors. The suit alleges the “Kent Enterprise” committed fraud, illegally retaliated against employees who challenged their CEO’s authority and violated the Racketeering and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act.
The suit is the first time a public document has explicitly said UVa Health is the target of a federal investigation into those same claims.
“This case arises out of a hostile takeover of a revered medical system by a cadre of individuals determined to maximize revenues and rankings, thereby inflating their own career prospects and financial gain, through concerted, repeated, and consistent illegal acts,” according to the plaintiffs.
Kent says there is no merit to the suit or its claims.
“During my five-year tenure as CEO of UVA Health, my team and I remained focused on delivering exceptional and high-quality healthcare to Virginians and beyond,” Kent told The Daily Progress in a prepared statement. “These allegations against me are absurd, baseless, and motivated by greed, and many have already been publicly disproven.”
His statement echoes his former colleague Dr. Melina Kibbe, who served as dean of the UVa Medical School when Kent was in charge and now serves as president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Kibbe, who also was named in the suit, told the Houston Chronicle earlier this month that it is “unfortunate that these unfounded and baseless allegations continue to be brought forth” and she is eager for “the truth to prevail through the judicial system as there is no legal basis for this lawsuit.”
Kent and Kibbe were both the recipients of a letter of no confidence signed by 128 UVa physicians and faculty members in September of last year. The letter included claims of criminal and ethical wrongdoing, much of which is repeated in the more recent lawsuit.
Physicians and faculty members said Kent and his top brass lined their pockets while hospitals remained short-staffed, tampered with billing and patient records, disregarded policies, tenure and ethics, and threatened those who spoke out against them.
Kent resigned the following February after UVa’s governing Board of Visitors reviewed a report prepared by the Washington-based law firm of Williams & Connolly, which had been tasked with investigating the claims.
That report has never been made public, casting doubt on Kent’s assertion that the allegations against him have been “publicly disproven.”
On the contrary, the dozens of current and former UVa Health officials, hospital employees and faculty members who spoke with The Daily Progress after the letter of no confidence was signed said Kent and Kibbe were guilty of the claims made against them — and that they had been protected from scrutiny by UVa officials more interested in profits than patients.
Then-UVa President Jim Ryan’s initial response to the letter of no confidence was to defend Kent and dismiss the letter as “generalized and anonymous claims of wrongdoing” from a small group of disgruntled employees, typical of any organization. Ryan later apologized for his remark.
At a Faculty Senate meeting last October, Ryan declined to address the claims when pressed, instead casting doubt on The Daily Progress’ reporting on the matter.
“Is it published in The Daily Progress?” he asked faculty members. “That’s all I need to know to assess its accuracy.”
Professors called Ryan out for disrespecting the newspaper of record, but Ryan never apologized for that remark.
Four months later, the health system CEO Ryan defended had resigned.
UVa Health has kept quiet on the matter.
After the civil suit was filed earlier this month, health system spokesman Eric Swensen told The Daily Progress “the University does not generally comment on pending litigation.”
Kent said that while he disagrees with the claims made against him in the suit, he welcomes the opportunity to debate them in court.
“I look forward to the opportunity to finally be able to address these accusations and to be fully vindicated through the judicial process,” he said.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com