Philadelphia-based Rothman Orthopaedic Institute is fighting two of its former partners — Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health and Jersey City, N.J.-based CarePoint Health — in court, according to a May 28 report from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Five years ago, Rothman sought to expand into New Jersey with the help of Hackensack and CarePoint. Now the institute is suing Hackensack for allegedly poaching its physicians and CarePoint for $336,555 in unpaid bills.
Rothman is also in litigation with its former CEO, Christopher Olivia, MD, who was hired to help with a planned national expansion.
In 2019, Rothman approached Hackensack about forming a joint venture to open an ASC in New Jersey, a state in which Rothman did not have any sites at the time.
When the center opened in 2020, there were talks of a potential exclusive partnership between the two systems.
Five months later, Rothman announced plans to partner with CarePoint Health, which owns hospitals in Bayonne, Hoboken and Jersey City.
Hackensack continued to pursue a partnership with Rothman, which allegedly noted that CarePoint was primarily being used to fill overnight shifts. Hackensack then continued investing in the Rothman partnership before Rothman announced a 10-year partnership with CarePoint.
At that point, the New Jersey system withdrew from partnership discussions.
Rothman has sued CarePoint twice for unpaid bills. The lawsuit says CarePoint still owes $259,875 in on-call physician coverage fees under the agreement, which Rothman terminated last July.
All three parties declined to comment on the ongoing litigation, according to the Inquirer.
Rothman still maintains a presence in New Jersey, and has growing practices across the Philadelphia, New York and Florida markets.