ThedaCare scraps lawsuit to prevent employees from leaving for Ascension

ThedaCare has halted its attempt to get a court to block seven employees from leaving to work at a competitor, the Neenah, Wisconsin-based health system announced Friday.

The case against Ascension Northeast Wisconsin faced an uphill battle after a judge lifted an temporary order blocking the workers from quitting ThedaCare's flagship hospital for the same positions less than seven miles away at St. Louis-based Ascension's Appleton facility. ThedaCare's attorney filed a voluntary dismissal notice in Outagamie County Circuit Court on Friday.

"We regret the seven team members who accepted positions outside of ThedaCare were impacted by this situation, and we have made efforts to ensure that the risk to them was minimized for the day between employment," ThedaCare CEO Dr. Imran Andrabi said in a news release. "We wish them well in their new roles."

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ThedaCare, which operates seven hospitals, contended in its lawsuit that seven members of its 11-member interventional radiology and cardiovascular team departing at the same time would endanger patients. The crew handles serious cases such trauma and stroke patients. Ascension rejected that argument and noted that the employees would provide the same care at a nearby hospital. Ascension also pointed out that ThedaCare declined to make the workers a counteroffer to get them to remain.

ThedaCare continues to stand by its assertions that the sole aim of the legal action was protecting patients. "We have worked diligently to ensure safe, quality, continued access to the high-level services our communities rely on in the most serious, life-threatening situations," Andrabi said.