Court blocks CHS’ former Fort Wayne exec from sharing confidential information

A Tennessee court last week ruled that a former CEO of Lutheran Health Network disclosed confidential information, but is allowing him to still work with competitor IU Health to create a new primary-care practice in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Judge Joseph Woodruff of the Circuit Court of Williamson County, Tenn., said Lutheran Health, a subsidiary of Community Health Systems, will likely prevail in its suit accusing Brian Bauer of sharing information with third parties, and he cannot create a competing healthcare network with anyone who received that information. That doesn’t include IU Health. Bauer admitted he shared confidential and proprietary information with a venture capital firm and others.

The judge also prevented Bauer from soliciting Lutheran Health’s employees to work for IU Health and ordered him to recover the private information he gave out.

The temporary injunction is part of a lawsuit Franklin, Tenn.-based CHS and Lutheran Health filed in November against Bauer for allegedly breaching his contract by disparaging the hospital system, sharing confidential information to harm the system, and ultimately luring IU Health to Fort Wayne.

“The court rulings not only demonstrate that the litigation has merit, they also ensure that the litigation will proceed and prohibit Bauer

from continuing to use Lutheran’s confidential information for his personal gain,” a CHS spokesperson said in a statement.

Bauer was fired as Lutheran’s CEO in June 2017 after a failed bid to find a buyer for CHS’ eight area hospitals. He started working with IU Health in October as an independent contractor to build out a new primary-care practice.

“I’m excited to move forward with IU Health expanding access to highquality healthcare in Fort Wayne,” Bauer said in a statement.