Pennsylvania-based health systems Geisinger and Evangelical Community Hospital reached a nearly $29 million settlement over an alleged no-poach agreement.
Geisinger agreed to pay $19 million and Evangelical, which joined the WellSpan Health system in July 2024, will pay $9.5 million, totaling $28.5 million.
The deal must still be approved by a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. If approved, about 12,000 health care workers would split the funds, each receiving a minimum of $250, with an average amount estimated at $1,500.
Geisinger is based in Danville, Pennsylvania, and has approximately 32,000 employees. Evangelical, the largest community hospital in Central Pennsylvania, is headquartered in Lewisburg and employs about 1,800 people.
The plaintiffs filed a class-action lawsuit against the two health systems in February 2021. Three nurses – Nichole Leib, Kevin Brokenshire and Diane Weigley – alleged their employers had an illegal agreement not to recruit each other’s physicians, nurses, psychologists, therapists and other health care professionals. This agreement, they claim, was intended to reduce competition in the market and keep wages low for health care workers.
Plaintiffs claimed Geisinger and Evangelical reached an agreement through “secretive verbal exchanges” that were later confirmed by emails, “which they agreed to conceal from outsiders, their respective employees and the public.”
In a statement to Newsweek, Geisinger said it disagrees with the allegations and believes their actions were appropriate.
“This settlement – which includes no admission of wrongdoing – reflects our decision to move forward and avoid the ongoing expense and distraction of litigation,” Geisinger said.
The health system that the resolution will allow them to “focus fully on what matters most – our patients, our people and the communities we serve.”
“Our employees and clinicians are the heart of our organization,” Geisinger told Newsweek. “We remain deeply committed to fostering a workplace where every individual is respected, supported and recognized for their contributions. This settlement reinforces our commitment to building a strong, caring and forward-looking organization.”
Exterior of Geisinger Medical Center on September 24, 2015 in Danville, Pennsylvania. (
Exterior of Geisinger Medical Center on September 24, 2015 in Danville, Pennsylvania. (
Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Geisinger Health System
This complaint may have never been filed if not for a Department of Justice antitrust investigation into a proposed deal that would see Evangelical Community Hospital partially acquired by Geisinger.
In a statement at the time, acting Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division Richard A. Powers said the anticompetition agreement between the two health systems “reduced their incentives to compete on the price, quality and availability of high-quality healthcare services, which would have harmed patients in central Pennsylvania.”
The DOJ complaint, filed on August 5, 2020, noted that senior executives at Geisinger and Evangelical entered into a no-poach agreement that reduced competition between them and therefore “directly harms healthcare workers seeking competitive pay and working conditions.”
The alleged no-poach agreement likely began before May 2015 and continued until at least August 5, 2020, when the Department of Justice brought a civil antitrust action to enjoin Geisinger’s partial acquisition of Evangelical.
Newsweek reached out to WellSpan for comment.