Kirkwood Medical Facility at Center of $300K Lawsuit

St. Louis University Trustee Dr. Frank O’Donnell filed suit Nov. 14 in St. Louis County seeking a judgement in excess of $300,000 from Judge Maura McShane alleging breach of contract regarding a lease agreement with Kirkwood Surgery Center LLC (KSC).

KSC is a subsidiary of TLC Vision Corp. (TLC). TLC is an eye care services company which operates refractive centers and also provides eye care and doctor services in the United States and Canada. TLC CEO Jim Tiffany is also named as a defendant in the suit.

O’Donnell owns the building at 1028 S. Kirkwood Rd. and alleges in court documents that KSC signed a five year lease in April of 2006 agreeing to pay annual rent of $216,880.

He further alleges that KSC vacated the premises in August of 2010 without giving him notice and also ceased making monthly $17,974 rent payments in September of 2010.

O’Donnell also alleges he has incurred costs for the replacement and repair of air conditioning and irrigation system components which were damaged during KSC’s tenancy and according to a copy of the lease agreement were KSC’s responsibility to maintain and/or repair.

O'Donnell is founder and managing director of The Hopkins Capital Group which is based in Tampa, Florida and develops and commercializes health care technologies.

He has served on the SLU Board of Trustees since 2003 and is a former chairman of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine's Department of Ophthalmology. O'Donnell is also chairman for BioDelivery Sciences International which is a specialty pharmaceutical company with a focus in pain management and oncology supportive care based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In September, St. Louis Cardinals medical director and team physician .

Calls to O’Donnell’s attorney, John Garavaglia, declined comment citing pending litigation. A call to TLC seeking comment was not returned.