Medical City Frisco will be operated as a campus of The Medical Center of Plano, which allows the hospital to accept Medicare patients immediately and continue uninterrupted service. Akdamar was unavailable to answer further questions Friday. Medical City Frisco will operate as an acute care hospital with services including orthopedics, neurosurgery, gynecology, pediatric surgery, bariatrics, general surgery, robotics, and emergency room, according to the release from HCA.
Additional services, including OB and cardiovascular treatment, will be added in the future. When the six physician-owned hospitals filed separate bankruptcy cases, HCA Inc.
Waller lawyers conducted an initial assessment of the most viable acquisition targets and ultimately advised HCA in connection with the purchase of three of the hospitals. One of the three hospitals Frisco remained open throughout the sale process, and Waller attorneys were able to assist HCA in a seamless transaction, addressing everything from real estate, financing, litigation, tax, regulatory and licensure and bankruptcy issues.
The transaction included two hospital towers with 84 beds, 22 operating rooms and 14 intensive-care rooms. Some were convinced that Foundation would better manage the supply chain, generating economies of scale and building relationships to negotiate improved managed care contracts. Each hospital had a unique tax identification number, meaning the Forest Park hospitals could not negotiate reimbursements as a group.
This gave the system little leverage to negotiate with higher rates with insurers once Forest Park was pushed to use in-network rates. The money remained out of reach — and the ramifications were tremendous. That same year, the hospital at Frisco began deferring rent payments to Sabra. Texas Capital Bank also posted the San Antonio hospital for foreclosure. The Frisco hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Thomas Melsheimer, lead attorney for Nicholson, said the jury did what he asked them to do, which was look at his client separately from the others. Securities and Exchange Commission. The government, Melsheimer said, wanted to "throw everyone in one barrel" in the Forest Park trial. But in the case of Nicholson, the government's allegations "just didn't hold water," he said. Following the verdict, the tall and lanky surgeon gave Melsheimer a big hug and told him, "'Thank you for my life back,'" Melsheimer said.
He said his client will return to performing surgeries at his premiere weight loss clinic. Defense attorneys had argued during the trial that there were no expectations, or quid pro quo, attached to the money; that Forest Park merely hoped the surgeons would bring their patients to the hospital.
And if they didn't, no problem. The benefits at the heart of the bribery allegations were advertising dollars the hospital supplied for the doctors. Those payments were spelled out in detail in marketing agreements between Forest Park and the surgeons. The doctors got expert health care lawyers to approve the contracts, which the defense called "co-marketing agreements.
The government did not dispute that the agreements were legal on their face but said the doctors used them to hide the bribes and kickbacks. Defense attorneys, however, argued that the hospital also benefited from the billboard, TV and radio ads it paid for because promoting surgeons also promotes the hospital. That's because doctors decide where patients go for procedures, not patients, the defense attorneys argued.
The marketing agreements are widespread in the healthcare industry. And testimony during the trial indicated other Texas hospitals used the contracts to pay for patients. The surgeons were accused of earning the lion's share of bribes and kickbacks in the case.
A fifth surgeon, David Kim, pleaded guilty prior to the trial and testified for the government. Three of the hospital's founders also pleaded guilty. Two of them, Alan Beauchamp and Dr. Wade Barker, testified for the government. Henry got paid through a sham contract with a Forest Park real estate affiliate. The number of defendants to admit guilt in the case was difficult for the defense to overcome.
Prosecutors harped on it during the trial, asking how the defendants could not have known about the scheme when multiple participants did. But the defense did have an answer: The co-defendants lied in exchange for leniency.
Rimlawi said during his testimony that prosecutors scared and pressured them into saying whatever they were asked. Defense lawyers said their doctor clients cared about their patients and wanted to bring them to Forest Park because it had state-of-the-art facilities and equipment. Kevin Krause. Kevin has worked for The Dallas Morning News since , and he has covered federal criminal courts for the past six years.
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