A leadership shakeup at a South Florida hospital system has spilled straight into court, with the operator accusing its recently ousted chief executive of trying to grab control of the company’s bank accounts on his way out.
Healthcare Systems of America, which runs a network of five South Florida hospitals, has sued former CEO Michael Sarian in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, alleging he moved to change who could access the system’s money right after he was removed from the top job. The company says the maneuver put at risk the funds it relies on to pay staff, vendors and cover patient care, and that more than $750,000 is wrapped up in the dispute.
The complaint asks for emergency court orders to block any transfers tied to the contested accounts.
According to the Miami Herald, the lawsuit filed March 5 alleges that on March 4, Sarian emailed City National Bank and asked that two Healthcare Systems of America officers be removed as authorized signatories. The filing says he then sought to add his wife, Evelina Sarian, as a signatory on all HSA accounts. City National Bank is also named as a defendant.
Healthcare Systems of America is asking the judge for a temporary restraining order and a temporary injunction that would block Sarian from accessing or moving money from those accounts while the case plays out.
In a statement to the paper, HSA stressed that the turmoil is not spilling over into exam rooms or operating suites. The company said “the dispute has no impact on clinical operations and hospitals remain fully operational,” and that patient care and payroll are continuing uninterrupted as the legal fight unfolds, according to the Miami Herald.
What the complaint says is at stake
The court filing describes the accounts at issue as the main pipelines for money coming in from Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurers. It specifically names United and Blue Cross Blue Shield among the payors that route reimbursements through those accounts.
Healthcare Systems of America argues that if anyone without proper authority can tap those accounts, it could choke off the cash flow hospitals depend on for day-to-day operations, from paying employees to covering vendor invoices.
How the boardroom shakeup set this off
Court documents say Sarian was removed as CEO of HSA Florida on March 3. That change followed landlord Medical Properties Trust exercising its proxy rights and installing Faisal Gill as the system’s chief executive and sole board member.
The leadership flip and the lawsuit are part of a broader restructuring underway at the five South Florida hospitals the company operates, according to the filing.
What it means for patients and staff right now
For the moment, HSA insists that clinical teams are in place and services remain available, even as the lawyers get to work. Still, employees, contractors and vendors are likely to keep a close eye on the docket for any order that might freeze accounts or disrupt payments.
If the judge grants the temporary restraining order the company is seeking, banks holding the named accounts would be barred from allowing transfers while the case moves forward, effectively locking the status quo in place.
What happens next in court
Healthcare Systems of America is asking a Miami-Dade judge for immediate injunctive relief and a prompt hearing on a preliminary injunction. Those emergency measures are designed to keep the financial picture from changing while the court takes a deeper look at the dispute.
The civil case will proceed on the Miami-Dade docket, where judges typically weigh whether a complaint shows a serious risk of irreparable harm that is significant enough to justify temporary relief.
Until the court decides who can legally call the shots on those accounts, the showdown over signatories will remain in the judge’s hands while the hospitals keep treating patients and staff keep reporting for work.
