“These doctors, who have dedicated years of practice in this community to take care of the health of this community, have come together to say enough is enough,” Ezinne Nwude, MD, chief of staff at the Medical Center of South Arkansas, confirmed June 5 to the newspaper.
Dr. Nwude did not go into detail about the physicians’ concerns. However, she told the News-Times that the no-confidence vote concerned the leadership spearheaded by Scott Street, who has served as CEO since 2017, and practices and policies that have affected care quality and staff morale.
A letter about the vote has been sent to the Medical Center of South Arkansas board of trustees. The hospital’s owner, Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, was also notified of the vote.
Mr. Street addressed the situation in a June 6 internal memo to staff, shared with Becker’s.
“Some physicians have raised general concerns related to quality of care, patient safety and staffing at the hospital. We take any concerns of this nature very seriously. We have met with the physicians, and we have asked them for detailed information and specific examples in order to investigate their concerns. To date, despite numerous requests for this information by the hospital, the information has not been provided by the physicians,” he wrote.
Still, he said the hospital has reviewed the general concerns each time they are raised, and so far, concerns have been unfounded. The hospital has now engaged an independent counsel to conduct a thorough and complete investigation related to the recent concerns, he said.
The hospital “desires a collegial, constructive and collaborative relationship with every member of our medical staff,” and continues to have a high level of confidence in the care quality and safety environment provided for patients at Medical Center of South Arkansas, Mr. Street said.
Read the full News-Times article here.
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