Former Medical Center of South Arkansas Chief Executive Officer Scott Street announced last week that the hospital had selected a new physician staffing agency to contract with.
In an August 9 email, Street told MCSA staff that the hospital would be ending its relationship with SCP Health, which had provided hospitalist and emergency department physician staff members to MCSA for years. Several hospital doctors subsequently voted against the move during a meeting with Street the same day.
According to an email Street sent MCSA staff last Wednesday, Sept. 1, the hospital has selected Emergency Staffing Solutions (ESS)/Hospital Care Consultants (HCC) to serve as its new vendor for hospitalist and ER physician services. The contract with ESS/HCC starts on November 9, said Alexandria Bennett, MCSA executive director for business development.
"In the coming weeks, EES/HCC will be working on their staffing plan which we anticipate will include physicians who have served our hospital under SCP Health. All current MCSA emergency medicine physicians and hospitalists will have the opportunity to meet with ESS/HCC to learn more about their staffing plans and positions available," Street's email said.
Some of the physicians hired under the hospital's contract with SCP Health earlier this year participated in votes of no confidence in the hospital's leadership, including MCSA Chief of Staff Dr. Ezinne Nwude and her husband, Dr. Ugo Nwude; Dr. Greg Smart, Dr. Joseph DeLuca and Dr. Abrar Khan.
Vicki Gilliam, an attorney representing 11 doctors who participated in the votes of no confidence, said last month that her clients drew the conclusion that the decision to end the SCP Health contract was "retribution or retaliation."
"My clients are concerned. They believe that this is a decision which obviously impacts current physicians on staff, but also may affect the continuity of their patients' care. My clients believe that, with the lack of collaborative efforts between CHS (Community Health Services) and the medical staff leadership team at MCSA, there can be no assurance that the local community is cared for in the best possible manner," she said on Friday.
Hospital officials have said physicians currently employed through SCP Health will have the opportunity to work with the new service provider to try to continue working at MCSA if they wish.
"We appreciate the professionalism of all physicians who are working in these roles today and anticipate a smooth transition over the coming weeks," Bennett said Friday.
Street resigned from MCSA in late August, and his last day working there was Friday, Sept. 3. Interim CEO Dwayne Blaylock "worked closely with Scott Street to ensure a smooth leadership transition for our team and patients," Bennett said on Friday.
Street has taken a job with Community Health Services, the company that owns MCSA, in northwest Arkansas.
Gilliam said her clients feel the hospital's decision to change staffing agencies despite doctor's objections follows the same leadership patterns that led to the votes of no confidence during the summer.
"This type of lack of collaboration and appropriate, basic communication were certainly factors which led the medical staff to vote 'no confidence' in the previous administration and my clients are concerned that it continues to be an issue since no one has yet explained the basis of the decision to change staffing services," she said. "My clients know of no complaints or problems with SCP staffing and believe that other (if not all) contracts between many CHS hospitals and SCP remain intact."
She said her clients believe the hospital owes the community an explanation.
"My clients also believe that the community of patients at MCSA deserve an explanation as to the change before they arrive for treatment and find that their current physicians may have been replaced by different doctors who are employed by the new staffing group," Gilliam said.