Hospitals

Is Nationwide Children’s physician noncompete clause too onerous?

An investigation by the Columbus Dispatch revealed that Nationwide Children's bans employed pediatric specialists from taking jobs within 100 miles of the hospital within two years of leaving. That rules out Cincinnati and Dayton, but not Cleveland.

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Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, apparently has one of the most restrictive physician noncompete policies in the country, banning employed pediatric specialists from taking jobs within 100 miles of the hospital within two years of leaving.

That effectively rules out in-state powerhouse competitors Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Dayton Children’s Hospital and a Shriners Hospital for Children in Cincinnati for Nationwide specialists, though it does not apply to the Cleveland Clinic or three other pediatric hospitals in Northern Ohio.

This news comes to us courtesy of an investigation by the Columbus Dispatch. The newspaper reported in its Sunday edition that it reviewed a noncompete agreement imposed on specialists, though it was unable to determine whether the contract applied to all of Nationwide’s 600 pediatric specialists.

The scope of the noncompete ban seems remarkable. “Two years is not unheard of,” Columbus employment attorney told the paper. “One hundred miles, I think, is.”

Another attorney, one who represents physicians in employment issues, told the Dispatch that the norm for noncompetes at adult hospitals in Central Ohio is 20 miles. Columbus-based OhioHealth generally imposes a one-year, 25-mile noncompete restriction on its employed physicians.

The Dispatch also quoted an unnamed spouse of a Nationwide Children’s physician. “I certainly never would have thought that in America your employer would have the power … to prevent you from being able to stay in your chosen career and move to another city,” this person reportedly said.

According to the Dispatch, Ohio courts generally do enforce noncompete agreements in employment contracts, though they consider numerous factors in doing so.

For its part, Nationwide Children’s declined to comment on the story.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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