SURGEONS IN OHIO FREED FROM NON-COMPETE

It is not Virginia, and each state is a little different, but a judge in Springfield, Ohio recently found a non-compete involving surgeons to be unenforceable.

The surgeons, who are physician-investors in the soon-to-open Ohio Valley Medical Center, filed a complaint asking the court to find their non-compete with Springfield Surgery Center was unenforceable. The surgeons were previously limited partners in Springfield Surgery Center (SSC) and had signed a non-compete with SSC.

In holding the non-compete unenforceable, the found the following facts to be significant:

* Ohio law provides that restrictive clauses against physicians can be detrimental to public health care....a similar line of cases exists in Virginia under certain situations.

* The terms of the restrictive clause was too long.

* Ohio Valley Medical Hospital is a "surgical hospital" and not an "outpatient surgery center," and therefore the language of the restrictive clause did not not apply.

My Take: Virgina Courts may have reached the same decision.