Cape Cod Hospital
HYANNIS – A cardiologist and medical director who formerly worked for Cape Cod Healthcare has filed a lawsuit against the provider for what he says are unethical practices, safety concerns and unlawful retaliation against him.
In his complaint filed with the Barnstable District Court, Dr. Richard Zelman says he drew attention to hospital behavior prioritizing revenue, including denying patients with Medicare or Medicaid insurance stroke risk-reducing technology for certain medical procedures.
He claims the system instead prioritized other patients who had insurance that would reimburse the provider at higher rates.
He said that his attempts to address the disparity were eventually met, but he faced a number of retaliations from the hospital including what Zelman called an unnecessary performance investigation.
Zelman also brought attention to what he says were preventable deaths and dangerous care by cardiac surgeons employed by Brigham and Women’s Hospital who performed surgeries at Cape Cod Hospital.
In a statement, Cape Cod Healthcare denied his allegations, and highlighted its patient safety record, including receiving the 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award.
“We value and support the many dedicated physicians, nurses and other staff members who care for our cardiology patients every day. This litigation is unfortunate and the allegations are a disservice to the hard work of these professionals. We will vigorously defend this case, but it would be inappropriate for us to offer further comment at this time,” wrote Cape Cod Healthcare officials in the statement.
They added that Zelman still holds full medical staff privileges at the hospital, though he is no longer employed.
The full statement from Cape Cod Healthcare can be found below:
While Dr. Zelman is no longer employed by Cape Cod Hospital, he continues to hold full medical staff privileges at the Hospital and perform cardiac procedures as a private practitioner. The Hospital denies the claims set out in his complaint, and in particular denies any allegations of retaliation against him for raising patient safety issues or that the Hospital has failed to take action, when appropriate, to continue to improve the quality of the Hospital’s cardiac care and services.
In fact, the Hospital’s patient safety record has been recognized by Healthgrades with their 2021 Patient Safety Excellence Award PR – Cape Cod Hospital earns Healthgrades Patient Safety Award – Cape Cod Healthcare and, for the past five years, Cape Cod Healthcare has received numerous similar awards for excellence in patient care https://www.capecodhealth.org/about/awards-recognitions/.
We value and support the many dedicated physicians, nurses and other staff members who care for our cardiology patients every day. This litigation is unfortunate and the allegations are a disservice to the hard work of these professionals. We will vigorously defend this case, but it would be inappropriate for us to offer further comment at this time.
About Grady Culhane
