A former CHOMP radiation oncologist files a breach of contract and whistleblower lawsuit against the hospital.

A former radiation oncologist at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula is suing the hospital, former CEO Dr. Steven Packer and other hospital executives, alleging that they breached his contract and violated a California code covering whistleblowers, among others. Dr. Bradley Tamler claims they pushed him out last year after he repeatedly clashed with executives, who he says wanted him to put revenues ahead of patient care, in the suit filed in Monterey County Superior Court on Jan. 7.

Tamler’s practice, Peninsula Radiation Oncology Specialists, or PROS, has had a contract with CHOMP since 1996 to provide radiation treatments to cancer patients. The most recent contract agreed to in 2019 was terminated on March 31, 2025, in a move contested by Tamler. 

Tamler is asking for a jury trial to decide damages and back pay, among other restitution, as well as civil penalties for allegedly violating the California Health and Safety Code protecting whistleblowers.

Tamler’s case alleges that in more recent years, executives began insisting that he focus more on saving money and increasing revenues at what he believed was at the expense of patient care, and as a result he was harassed by executives.

“Over time, the hospital shifted from an environment that valued Dr. Tamler’s contributions and professional expertise to one primarily driven by financial considerations, disregarding the quality of patient care and professional integrity in the process,” according to the lawsuit. “As the year 2025 approached, Dr. Tamler was targeted for elimination. His devotion to patient care collided with the Hospital’s increased emphasis on monetary profits at the expense of patient lives.”

It goes on to state that as Tamler “observed the hospital’s decline in care,” he reported his concerns, complained and offered solutions, only to face retaliation.

“We are aware of the lawsuit filed by Dr. Bradley Tamler, who was an independent physician contracted with Community Hospital until April 2025. We strongly disagree with his allegations. Beyond saying that there is no validity to Dr. Tamler’s claims, we cannot comment further on an active legal matter,” Mindy Maschmeyer, director of marketing and communications for Montage Health, CHOMP’s parent company, says in a written statement.

“Our priority is always the safety and well‑being of our patients. CHOMP is nationally recognized for the exceptional quality of its care, and our clinical teams demonstrate an unwavering commitment to putting patients first,” Maschmeyer adds. 

The lawsuit echoes some of the complaints by CHOMP registered nurses who are scheduled to vote on possible unionization Wednesday, Jan. 28 through Friday, Jan. 30. Nurses say it’s patient safety concerns that drove them to reach out to the California Nurses Association about organizing.

There are also parallels to an earlier whistleblower case that CHOMP/Montage lost in 2023, resulting in a jury award of nearly $10 million. In that case, a supervisor at the Tyler Heart Institute at CHOMP contended that he was fired in retaliation for reporting violations of patient care regulations. Monterey County Superior Court Judge Vanessa Vallarta ruled separately that the defendants violated a California health and safety code that prohibits hospitals from retaliating against workers for complaining about unsafe patient care. Montage has appealed and the case is ongoing in the Sixth District Court of Appeal.

Tamler’s suit chronicles situations where he said he spent more time with patients over the objections of executives. In one example, he continued to see patients after treatments were concluded to check on their progress, considered a best practice by the American College of Surgeons, despite being asked to stop because it cost the hospital money. 

In at least a couple of instances cited in the lawsuit, Tamler was told he was “wasting time” on existing patients, instead of focusing on seeing a larger number of new patients to generate revenue.

The result, the suit claims, is that Tamler was subjected to “increased scrutiny, unwarranted reprimands and an extremely hostile work environment.” The alleged retaliation ranged from larger actions, like refusing to hire more physicians to replace ones that left, leaving Tamler to carry most of the patient load, to minor ones like imposing a random dress code. 

The pressure on Tamler increased, the suit contends, after Montage Health announced its Community Affordability Initiative in November 2024, to cut expenses by $50 million by the end of 2026. That announcement came as Montage was under scrutiny by the California Office of Health Care Affordability for being one of the highest-priced hospitals in the state. 

Maschmeyer noted that as a nonprofit organization, Montage Health, including CHOMP, provides services including mental and behavioral health care, primary and specialty care, hospice services, among others. “These services operate at a significant financial loss—totaling $135.5 million in 2024—yet we continue to provide them because they are vital to the health of our region. In 2024, Montage Health’s system-wide net margin was less than 1 percent and every dollar of that was reinvested into our local community,” she said.

In a meeting between executives and physicians that took place in January 2025, the doctors were instructed to only evaluate patients for the conditions they were admitted for, Tamler claims. They were told that once a patient was discharged, they could then be seen as an outpatient, generating additional reimbursement from insurance, Medicaid or Medicare.

“Not only did this directive violate clear patient care standards and best medical practice, but it also places patients at risk,” the lawsuit claims.

Things came to a head in February 2025, at the culmination of negotiations for a new contract. After much back and forth over one of the amendments, Tamler agreed to new conditions but claims that when he went to sign it, he was locked out of his work email for about two days. When the email problem was resolved, the suit says he found an email stating that he had not signed the contract in time so he was being terminated.

“Dr. Tamler was a leading physician in radiation oncology at the hospital and always strived to prioritize patient health and quality care above all else,” says Jonathan Landesman, lead counsel for Tamler and PROS, with Philadelphia-based Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC, a national business law firm. “This case presents compelling health care issues affecting your local community. We are looking forward to having this case in court and the truth being heard.”