A subsidiary of St. Charles Health System is suing one of its former doctors, Eric Amend, for failing to repay more than $80,000 in loans.

Amend, an OB-GYN, worked at a Redmond clinic owned by the health system, which includes three hospitals in Central Oregon as well as several outpatient clinics.

According to court documents, the health system loaned Amend $95,000 in 2010 to help pay relocation expenses from North Bend and cover the cost of a type of malpractice insurance. The loan was set to be forgiven over a period of years, contingent upon Amend providing physician services and retaining admitting privileges at St. Charles Redmond.

The health system contends Amend owes $79,424,00 on the original loan plus $6,637.34 in accrued interest.

St. Charles terminated its employment agreement with Amend in March, according to court documents. The documents do not say if the termination was voluntary.

St. Charles sent two letters to Amend, according to documents, demanding repayment of the balance of the loan.

St. Charles did not comment on the lawsuit, saying through spokeswoman Lisa Goodman that it does not comment on pending litigation.

A woman who identified herself as Amend’s wife was reached Monday at a residential phone number in Cincinnati. She said she would ask her husband to return the call. He did not.

Amend is licensed in Oregon and has an inactive medical license in Ohio. He trained in Toledo, Ohio, according to the Oregon Medical Board.

Loans to physicians upon employment are not uncommon. One article published on the website of the American College of Physicians estimated that about half of physician employers pay for the type of malpractice insurance at issue in this case.

St. Charles has loaned greater sums to physicians recently.

Within the past few years, St. Charles loaned three oncologists, Drs. Bill Martin, Steve Kornfeld and Rob Boone, $235,000 each for “certain expenses,” according to tax filings. Each physician had previously worked at Bend Memorial Clinic, which requires physicians to sign contracts that include non-compete clauses. Those agreements prohibit physicians who leave the clinic from practicing in the area for some time period unless they pay a sum of money to buy out their contracts.

Those loans are being forgiven contingent upon employment, according to the tax filings. All three physicians remain employed with St. Charles Health System.