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A Missouri company is taking an Iowa health care provider to court, accusing it of trying to poach dying hospice patients.
National Hospice Management Inc., or NHP, is suing Moments Hospice of Davenport in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
NHP provides hospice and related nursing services through hospice centers in several states, including Iowa where it operates Beacon of Hope Hospice in Davenport.
According to the lawsuit, Jaycie Klein worked at Beacon of Hope as a care coordinator and was responsible for marketing NHP’s services in Scott, Clinton and Muscatine counties. Moments Hospice is a competing hospice agency that owns and operates hospice centers in Iowa.
The lawsuit alleges that Klein entered into noncompete agreement with NHP when she was hired, agreeing not to compete with NHP or solicit NHP patients for their business for one year after leaving employment with NHP. The geographic scope of the noncompete agreement was anywhere within 65 miles of NHP’s locations in Davenport and Galesburg, Illinois.
Shortly after Klein quit her job at NHP in May 2025, the lawsuit claims, she began working for Moments Hospice at its location in Hiawatha near Cedar Rapids. While Hiawatha is 83.6 miles from Davenport by the most direct route while driving, the lawsuit alleges the two locations are within 65 miles of each other “and, thus, within the restricted area of the non-compete agreement.”
“National Hospice’s business depends on its customer base,” the lawsuit alleges. “Since leaving National Hospice, Klein has solicited National Hospice’s customers. Klein has continued to contact National Hospice’s customers and their family members in violation of her non-compete agreement.”
The lawsuit alleges tortious interference with NHP’s contract with Klein and seeks a court injunction to block any further interference.
Moments Hospice has yet to file a response to the lawsuit. The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach anyone at the company’s Hiawatha location to comment on the case.
This story was originally produced by Iowa Capital Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Missouri Independent, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
This post was originally authored and published by Clark Kauffman from Missouri Independent via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
