County accused of overpaying doctors at Tulare Hospital by former CEO

Tulare Regional Medical Center's former chief executive officer has accused Tulare County of overpaying a group of doctors operating the county's pediatric clinic in Tulare, and he plans to file a federal lawsuit to prove it.

"The numbers so exceed the fair-market value that it amounts to waste," Bob Montion said of the contract, which pays doctors at the Hillman Pediatric Health Center on Cherry Street $96 per patient visit.

And that's down from the original fee of $106 per visit, when the county entered the five-year contract on July 29, 2008, with Tulare Pediatric Group Inc. -†a private medical group in Tulare — to run the clinic.