A small, Black-owned radiology practice in Laurel is suing the University of Maryland Medical System for engaging in unfair and discriminatory bidding practices. The suit alleges UMMS signed a no-bid agreement with a Los Angeles-based radiology company to provide outpatient radiology services on its Laurel campus.
By not seeking bids from other companies, as the suit alleges, the University of Maryland Medical System edged Capitol Radiology out of the process, argued the company — based about 50 yards away from the medical system’s Laurel campus — in a lawsuit filed July 31 in Prince George’s County Circuit Court.
Dr. Doriann Thomas has owned and operated Capitol Radiology for about 20 years. She purchased the facility from Radiologix, a Dallas-based imaging services company that later was acquired by RadNet, the Los Angeles company selected by the medical system.
According to the lawsuit, which also named RadNet as a defendant, Capitol Radiology is the only Black-owned radiology facility in Maryland. In excluding Capitol Radiology from the bidding process, the lawsuit argues, the University of Maryland Medical System and RadNet violated state equal protection laws and the medical system violated a state law that requires the board of directors to operate the system without race or sex discrimination.
“UMMS knew that locating an outpatient radiology facility on the Laurel campus would have a substantially adverse effect on the black- and female-owned Capitol Radiology,” the lawsuit argues. “On information and belief, it excluded Capitol Radiology from bidding on the joint venture opportunity precisely because it was black- and female-owned, and therefore likely to prevail under State bidding rules.”
The University of Maryland Medical System and RadNet had not yet filed responses to the lawsuit as of Monday. When reached by phone, Brian Moffett, a lawyer from the Baltimore-based firm Miles and Stockbridge, which is representing RadNet in the suit, declined to comment on the pending litigation.
UM Capital Region Health — the network that operates the Laurel medical campus at question in the lawsuit — also declined to comment in a statement from spokeswoman Jania Matthews. The statement described the network as a “mission-driven organization focused on providing high-quality, safe and compassionate care to Prince George’s County residents.”
“In general, expanding and enhancing access to care and increasing health care options for the community, giving individuals choice and flexibility, is part of our strategic approach and among our top priorities,” the statement said.
The University of Maryland Medical System acquired Dimensions Healthcare — the company that ran the late Laurel Regional Hospital — in 2017. The system followed through on Dimensions’ plans to convert the former hospital to an outpatient care site, and later broke ground on a $70 million project to build an entirely new health center.
In an August 2022 news release about that year’s second-quarter financial results, RadNet announced it would partner with Dimension to build two new outpatient imaging centers — one in Largo and one in Laurel. At the time, the company said it expected to start seeing patients at the centers in the second or third quarter of 2023.
In a separate filing with the Prince George’s Circuit Court, Capitol Radiology asked a judge to issue an order that would temporarily prevent RadNet from operating on the Laurel health campus. But Judge William Snoddy denied the motion Aug. 9, writing that the company had failed to convince him that granting the order would be in the public interest and that it would suffer “irreparable harm” if the order were not granted.
Snoddy also said Capitol Radiology failed to convince him that its case is likely to succeed “on the merits” — a rule in civil procedure that requires someone seeking a preliminary injunction to show they have a good chance of winning their case.
Capitol Radiology is demanding a jury trial, where it hopes to gain compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief preventing RadNet from offering outpatient radiology services on the Laurel campus, according to the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Capitol Radiology draws a line between the RadNet and the University of Maryland Medical System’s joint venture and the history of self-dealing and corruption in the board responsible for overseeing the medical system.
In 2019, The Baltimore Sun reported that a third of the board’s 30 members — including former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh — had entered into deals with the medical system worth more than $115 million in total, many of which were not competitively bid.
“The UMMS-RadNet joint venture was the product of this very Board of Directors,” the lawsuit said.
Capitol Radiology also accused the University of Maryland Medical System of other unfair business practices, such as partnering with RadNet to obtain patient referrals and excluding Capitol Radiology from the bidding process because it didn’t have a preexisting relationship with the medical system
“This form of cronyism is anathema to the public bidding process because it results in the selection of companies based on pre-existing relationships rather than merit,” the lawsuit argues. “It also serves to perpetuate discrimination by freezing out previously excluded groups.”
There is no public need for the University of Maryland Medical System to open an outpatient radiology center in Laurel, the lawsuit said. For nearly 20 years, Capitol Radiology has served hundreds of thousands of patients in the surrounding communities and performed more than 170,000 Medicare and Medicaid procedures. It sees patients seven days per week, the lawsuit said.
The company fears the medical system’s joint venture with RadNet will harm its business — something that also would harm the surrounding communities, the lawsuit argues. Black physicians are significantly underrepresented in the radiology workforce, according to research quoted in the suit.
“Within the professional environment, expanding diversity is crucial for both radiologists and patients alike,” the lawsuit said. “Increased diversity in the professional workforce has been tied to performance improvement and innovative practices and has also been associated with professional efforts to expand access and challenge racial barriers to care. Improving diversity within the medical workforce has thus been associated with improved patient care.”
