Allegations that a pioneering infectious-disease expert accused of sexually abusing patients used Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach for what an attorney for the accusers has called a “sexual playground” have drawn the attention of two U.S. congressmen from Orange County who question whether any misconduct was the result of “systemic failures.”
Rep. Dave Min (D-Irvine) and Rep. Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano), in a letter sent late last month to Robert Braithwaite, the president and chief executive officer of Hoag Hospital, wrote that the allegations against Dr. William Moore Thompson IV are “deeply troubling and represent a serious breach of the trust patients place in their healthcare providers. …
“Given that this hospital serves many of our constituents, our offices are requesting a detailed account of the actions your hospital has taken since these allegations were first brought to your attention,” Min and Levin wrote. “Beyond the immediate case, we are deeply concerned with the systemic failures that may have allowed such alleged behavior to occur and persist.
“Looking ahead, we are eager to learn what proactive measures your hospital will be taking to prevent such incidents from ever happening again,” they said.
The letter noted that Hoag Hospital receives “substantial support” from federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, and that it is subject to oversight from agencies such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which “has a mandate to protect civil rights and ensure patient safety within healthcare. …
“We believe the misuse of federal funds and a failure to protect patients from harm would constitute a direct violation of that trust,” the congressmen added.
In a letter this week in response to the congressmen, Braithwaite wrote that “Hoag shares your commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of patients in our community and fully condemns the conduct alleged against Dr. William Thompson.”
The Hoag president said the suggestion of systemic failures is “unfounded.”
Thompson, Braithwaite noted in the letter, operated a private practice, was never directly employed by Hoag and was instead “one of approximately 1,900 physicians on the independent medical staff of Hoag.”
“Nearly all the patient allegations of sexual assault against Dr. Thompson involve conduct that occurred in the physician’s private medical office or at his home, and not at any Hoag operated facility,” Braithwaite wrote. “The legal duties of a hospital are well defined and do not extend to conduct that occurs outside its facilities. …
“While we are limited in what we can share due to ongoing litigation, Hoag took immediate steps to protect patient safety, including cooperating fully with law enforcement and regulatory authorities,” he added.
Thompson made his name as a pioneer in caring for men living with HIV and AIDS. He is now facing allegations from more than 150 individuals in nearly two-dozen lawsuits that he sexually assaulted patients under the guise of medical checkups. Thompson is also facing criminal sexual-assault charges, for which he has pleaded not guilty.
He lost his medical license, according to state records.
Thompson’s lawyer could not be reached for comment.
Patients have alleged that Thompson performed aggressive prostate exams without gloves, fondled them while commenting on the appearance of their genitalia, subjected them to sexual innuendo and advances and at times showed his own erect penis to them during exams.
The criminal case and civil lawsuits initially focused primarily on Thompson’s alleged conduct with patients. But as the court has moved to consolidate the civil cases, attorneys for the accusers have taken aim at Hoag Hospital, where Thompson had staff privileges and access to patients from 2007 until after his arrest in late 2023.
In court filings, attorneys for the accusers have alleged that Thompson had sexual intercourse with Hoag nurses and “housekeeping” employees at Hoag Hospital, including in staff locker rooms and bathrooms. The attorneys have alleged that Thompson also engaged in “sexual talk and innuendo” with Hoag employees.
In a previous interview, Morgan Stewart — an attorney with Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, a high-profile, Irvine-based law firm specializing in sexual-abuse cases — alleged that Thompson “essentially treated the hospital as his own private sexual playground,” adding that it was “a frat house environment.”
The attorneys for the accusers allege in court filings that Thompson’s “sexual misconduct” was “so blatant and overt that it is simply inconceivable that Hoag was not aware of the outrageous antics taking place within its own facility.”
A judge previously found that allegations against Thompson from more than 100 of the accusers were not directly linked to Hoag. The judge left the door open for the accusers’ attorneys to amend their allegations to potentially tie them to the hospital.