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Community Hospital Group12/29/2003
patients having to travel farther distances. Id. at 419. It held, however, that such geographic restrictions may nonetheless be enforceable since these patients are not deprived of the opportunity to continue their relationship with the departing physician. Ibid.
Plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in finding that enforcement of the restrictive covenant would be injurious to the public because (1) patient choice is not restricted by the covenant, (2) there are five other hospitals that provide neurosurgical care within the restricted area, and (3) the covenant would not prevent patients access to other neurosurgeons at SMC, where defendant is currently performing neurosurgeries.
Defendant argues that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that enforcement of the covenant would adversely affect the public interest because there is a shortage of qualified neurosurgeons within the restricted area. In support of this contention, defendant submits the certifications of four neurosurgeons which assert"there is a high demand in the North and Central New Jersey region for qualified neurosurgeons...." Defendant proposes that this shortage is due to"tremendous entry barriers" in this specialty and also the fact that"years of education, practical experience and accumulated skills and knowledge" are required to become a qualified neurosurgeon.
While an issue exists as to whether there is a sufficient number of neurosurgeons within the restricted area, plaintiff met its burden, for purposes of the present application, of showing that enforcement of the covenant pending trial would not be injurious to the public interest. During his deposition, defendant himself admitted that the five hospitals that provide neurosurgery within the restricted area are not lacking in qualified neurosurgeons. The exchange was as follows:
Q: Does Hackensack University Medical Center have employee neurosurgeons on staff?
A: As far as I know.
Q: They have a sufficient number of surgeons that are available to do these surgeries?
A: I believe so.
Q: Given the fact that we have all of these extensive programs, within this 30 mile radius of JFK and JFK itself, would you -- is it your view that there is a shortage of neurosurgeons within that 30 my radius?....
A: Each one of these five institutions appears to be a sufficient number of neurosurgeons to cover.....
Q: As I understand it, the JFK Institute is in some respects comparable to all five of these institutions, correct?
A: Correct.
Q: That gives us six institutions within this 30 mile radius that has the capacity to provide the kind of extensive neurological services that you referred to here in your supplemental certification?
A: Correct.
This evidence provides strong corroboration for plaintiff's contention that, with six hospitals having qualified neurosurgeons on staff within the restricted area, enforcement of the covenant would not restrict the public's access to other qualified neurosurgeons within that area.
In addition to determining whether a shortage of qualified neurosurgeons in the restricted area will result, we must also consider the degree, if any, to which defendant's patients would be burdened in continuing their relationship with him. See Karlin, supra, 77 N.J. at 424. The restrictive covenant here does not restrict defendant's patients from continuing their relationships with defendant. Rather, defendant's contention that enforcement of the covenant would be adverse to the public's interest rests upon the thirty-mile geographic restriction. Th
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