The exodus, affecting five to six practices, comes after Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare completed its acquisition of the hospital in March 2020. It also comes as Matt Larkin takes the helm of Frisbie Memorial as interim CEO.
“Yes, this has happened, and we are working to assure we can support the hospital with local coverage while we are actively recruiting new staff,” Mr. Larkin told the Daily Democrat. “It is not a RIF [reduction in force]. Sometimes when an organization changes administration, we can see attrition. Those physicians who left are fantastic, and we hope as we reorganize some may come back.”
Mr. Larkin, who previously was COO of HCA’s Portsmouth (N.H.) Regional Hospital, is serving as interim CEO of Frisbie Memorial after Jeff Scionti retired.
He said as the hospital is rebuilding practices, its aim is that some of the physicians leaving will want to return, according to the July 15 Daily Democrat report. He also told the newspaper that the hospital is recruiting physicians in various areas, including hematology and oncology, and obstetrics and gynecology.
He added that “HCA made no direct changes to account for the attrition” and that the physician exodus is “a perfect storm of events that just happened. We have a really positive feel for our emergency and other services, and we want people to know we are here to handle any situation.”
As part of HCA’s purchase, the for-profit hospital operator agreed to make multiple investments in Frisbie Memorial, Current investments include in rooms, boiler systems and the pharmacy, Mr. Larkin said.
Access the Daily Democrat report here.
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