“Kettering Health disputes the allegations and contends that we are honoring the agreement, and in fact, are doing more than the agreement requires,” Kettering Health said in an organizational statement. “We intend to defend the lawsuit and demonstrate our compliance with the agreement.”
The lawsuit alleges Kettering Health has begun to fail and is refusing to use the name “Indu & Raj Soin Medical Center” or “Soin Medical Center” in all references to the facility. It is failing to do so “despite taking advantage of the Soin names and substantial contribution,” the complaint says.
The Soins agreed to pay a multi-million-dollar sum of money to the hospital system in exchange for naming rights of the medical center at 3535 Pentagon Blvd. in Beavercreek, according to an agreement dated Jan. 3, 2010, between the Soins and Kettering Adventist Healthcare.
The exact payments from the Soins were redacted on lawsuit’s complaint filed with the Montgomery County courts. The appraised value of the medical center at 3535 Pentagon Blvd. is approximately $86 million, according to Greene County auditor records.
Kettering Health approached Rajesh K. Soin with a request to change the name of the medical center in 2019, the lawsuit says, which Soin declined.
Despite the Soins declining to change the agreement, the lawsuit says Kettering Health began rebranding the “Indu & Raj Soin Medical Center by intentionally making internal and external changes and characterizing the agreement as simply a ‘signage agreement.’” The lawsuit emphasized that the name was meant to be used in “all references” to the medical center.
Examples of missteps on Kettering Health’s part cited in the lawsuit include scrubs having the logos changed from Indu & Raj Soin Medical Center or Soin Medical Center to using only the Kettering Health logo. Logos also were reportedly changed on police uniforms and vehicles, the complaint says, along with a patient survey seeking feedback only having the Kettering Health logo on it.
The 2010 agreement stipulates that Kettering Health agreed to name the medical center “Indu and Raj Soin Medical Center,” with the Soins authorizing the use of the short name “Soin Medical Center.”
The Soin name also is meant to be permanently attached to any future medical center at that same location, the agreement says.
In addition to naming rights, the 2010 agreement also says the Soins would get “preferential patient care.”
The agreement says the Soins and each member of their immediate family “will have full access to any preferential patient care and/or treatment suites that might be available in the medical center on the same terms and conditions as available to others to whom Kettering (Health) extends its highest level of preferential treatment.”
The 2010 agreement is signed by Rajesh K. and Indu Soin, along with Francisco J. Perez, then-CEO of Kettering Health.
Kettering Health has until March 7 to file a response to this complaint, according to court documents.
The Dayton Daily News reached out to the Soins’ attorneys for comment.
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