Doctors warn problems at South County Health threaten patient care. How leadership responded

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – A group of doctors, donors, former board members and others are raising “systemic and administrative concerns” against South County Health, the parent organization over the 100-bed South County Hospital , that they say need to be addressed to prevent negative impacts on patient care.

In a letter shared with news outlets Wednesday the signatories aired a litany of grievances against the health care system. Among them:

• “A lack of support and adversarial relationship between executive leadership and providers” that led to the resignation of most hematology oncologists from the hospital’s cancer center
• The resignation of the director of radiation oncology due to a dramatic increase in patient volume
• The imposition of benchmarks for patient visits that result in shorter visit times for services such as nephrology
• Departures of primary care doctors from South County Medical Group due to “irreconcilable differences with management”
• Staffing shortages of cardiology and pulmonary services
• The elimination of the sleep lab and reduction of other services

The letter also criticized the management style of South County Health’s CEO Aaron Robinson, saying it has “fostered divisions rather than collaboration” and has been “characterized by abrupt, callous and confrontational attitudes, as well as disinterest in the well-being of practitioners, former trustees, and donors.”

The signatories are concerned these issues are already impacting patient care and South County Health’s ability to attract and retain doctors and hospital staff. If unresolved, they argued, the issues will also diminish South County Health’s ability to form partnerships with other organizations.

Hospital responds to letter

In a statement released by South County Health, Joseph Matthews, South County Health’s chairman of the board, and Aaron Robinson, CEO and president, responded to the letter.

The statement pinned blame on skyrocketing health care costs and low reimbursement rates in the state.

“This has systematically created an unsustainable health care delivery environment, and is the direct root cause of the challenges that all Rhode Island health care systems experience, not just South County Health, in recruiting and retaining providers, as well as their inability to fully invest in infrastructure,” the statement said.

South County Health also released a point-by-point response to the letter – as well as a landing page with lengthy explanations of the decisions made by the health care system’s leadership – addressing the signatories’ grievances.

• The resignation of oncologists, according to South County Health, occurred after they “advocated for turning over the cancer center to a national, for-profit oncology organization.” The health care system also retained one full-time oncologist and “secured” three others who will begin in October.
• The director of the radiation oncology services, who came out of retirement to take on the role, resigned after South County Health “explored partnerships with organizations that could ensure full coverage over the long-term” – though it is unclear why the director objected to this.
• Benchmarks, South County Health explained, are industry standard, and doubling the time of patient visits “unnecessarily reduces access to patients who need service while undermining the sustainability of the practice.”
• The health care system explained two primary care physicians employed by South County Medical Group left after the medical director of the practice retired, resulting in expanded patient loads and mounting demand for coverage.
• South County Health’s former cardiologists were seeking better pay, “a broader continuum of cardiovascular subspecialists” and a more modernized medical record system. These doctors seem to have left South County Health but remained practicing in the South County community through a partnership with Care New England. South County Health also lost a pulmonary physician who sought higher out-of-state reimbursements, while retaining another.
• The sleep lab closed due to aging equipment, which replacing “substantially eclipsed operative revenue.” Services have migrated away to in-home and ambulatory settings, according to South County Health, and are available in the community.

As for the management of Robinson, South County Health asserted “the Board of Trustees rejects this characterization for a leadership team that has been executing on Board directives.”

The health care system asked for the “benefit of the doubt” from the community, acknowledging that “invariably there will be disagreements or different of perspectives” when making decisions.

South County Health will hold a live community forum on YouTube on Sept. 16 where leaders from the health care system will answer questions. Questions can be submitted online ahead of the forum.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Doctors warn problems at South County Health threaten patient care. How leadership responded