A lawsuit filed against Parrish Medical Center by Brevard County medical provider OMNI Healthcare has been thrown out by a federal judge in the Middle District of Florida court.
OMNI Healthcare CEO Dr. Craig Deligdish brought the lawsuit in July of last year, alleging that Parrish and the North Brevard Hospital District were engaged in money laundering and had misused federal coronavirus relief money. Last month, a federal judge dismissed those allegations with prejudice, meaning Deligdish cannot file future lawsuits alleging the same wrongdoing.
Deligdish originally filed a complaint about Parrish Medical Center with the Department of Labor, which dismissed his case before appealing to a federal administrative judge, who threw out most of the case as well. Deligdish then filed the complaint in federal court where the entire lawsuit was dismissed this past month.
Parrish Medical Center told the courts that Deligdish’s complaints against them were an act of retaliation after the hospital group alleged Deligdish had ordered COVID-19 vaccines from the State of Florida under false pretenses during the pandemic.
When reached for comment, Deligdish mentioned multiple other cases involving his OMNI Healthcare and Parrish, including one lawsuit that accused Parrish of Covid-related money laundering.
“There are four pending cases. Three are in Brevard County and one is in federal court,” Deligdish said.
According to court documents, claims of money laundering by Parrish were deemed “unsubstantiated” by the Agency for Health Care Administration.
In an emailed statement to FLORIDA TODAY, Parrish spokeswoman Natalie Sellers said Deligidish has made “false statements” to “mask” legal losses such as OMNI Healthcare’s eviction from Parrish-owned property over failure to pay for a lease.
“Parrish Medical Center will vigorously defend itself against parties who bring baseless lawsuits and filings with administrative agencies and demanding money to ‘settle’ for their own personal financial gain,” Sellers wrote in the email.
Tyler Vazquez is the Growth and Development Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Federal judge dismisses OMNI lawsuit against Parrish over COVID funds
Reporting by Tyler Vazquez, Florida Today / Florida Today
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