SMITHFIELD - Dr. Frank Wefald, a Smithfield cardiologist, has once again won an injunction to prevent Johnston Health from suspending his privileges to practice within the public hospital system.

Last Wednesday morning, Johnston County Superior Court Judge Charles Bullock signed a temporary restraining order preventing the suspension.

The case is scheduled to return to court May 28.

In a complaint filed Wednesday, Wefald said Johnston Health notified him by letter Tuesday that he would lose his clinical privileges starting at noon the next day. Wefald said the suspension was to last for no longer than 30 days.

Wefald's complaint does not say why Johnston Health wants to suspend his privileges, and neither hospital representatives nor Wefald would comment on the reason for the action.

"We're not going to talk too much about that," said Jim Perpich, marketing director for Johnston Health. "There's not a lot about to say about it."

Wefald said the attempted suspension had nothing to do with quality of patient care. He said the matter had to do with "politics."

According to his complaint, Wefald and hospital officials met in March to discuss "certain allegations" against the doctor.

Then, the complaint says, the hospital's medical executive committee discussed the same allegations in May.

It is not clear what those allegations were, but this is not the first time the doctor and the hospital system have sparred in court.

Last year, Wefald sued Johnston Health after it moved to suspend his medical privileges.

In that lawsuit, Johnston Health contended Wefald had physician assistants sign his medical charts for him, despite warnings to end the practice. Hospital officials also said Wefald used threatening and abusive language at work and made degrading comments about patients and hospital staff, charges he denied.

Wefald won an injunction that protected his hospital privileges, and he later made a private settlement with the hospital system. As part of his settlement with the hospital, Wefald agreed to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, he said. The evaluation found him mentally sound and capable of medical work, Wefald said.

County-owned Johnston Health is the umbrella for two hospitals and related medical services.

The flagship hospital, with a new five-story patient tower, is Johnston Medical Center-Smithfield. Johnston Health also owns and operates Johnston Medical Center-Clayton, with an emergency department and lab service; a walk-in clinic in Smithfield; and family-care practices in Clayton and Kenly.