Ohio University's College of Osteopathic Medicine did not experience financial difficulties this past spring when its contract with O'Bleness Memorial Hospital expired, said Dr. Jack Brose, dean of OUCOM.
The O'Bleness Emergency Department had been staffed through a contract with OUCOM for about 20 years before it expired.
But during that time period, OUCOM subcontracted the work to an outside agency, Emergency Medicine Physicians, which provided most of the Emergency Department's staff. Because OUCOM subcontracted the work, allowing its contract with O'Bleness to expire will not hurt the college financially, Brose said.
The decision to allow the contract to expire was a mutual agreement made by both the college and the hospital, Brose said.
Officials from OUCOM and O'Bleness Memorial Hospital decided not to renew the contract to eliminate communication difficulties that resulted from subcontracting the work, Brose said. OUCOM was a middleman and did not need to be involved anymore
said Ward Howe, executive vice president of O'Bleness. The O'Bleness Emergency Department now has a contract with Emergency Professional Services Inc. to provide physician services.
Dr. Nicole Wadsworth, assistant dean of OUCOM, said letting the contract expire was also beneficial to the college because the decision helps risk management for malpractice. OUCOM was self-insured for malpractice, but EPS has a reputable malpractice insurance provider.
Howe said in an earlier interview that an important factor in selecting EPS was the high rating of its malpractice insurance provider. The rating is important because EPS has been named as a defendant in at least three patient lawsuits in Ohio in the past 15 years - one of which resulted in a $5 million settlement for the family of a minor who was permanently injured as a result of the negligence by EPS, according to online records from the Mahoning County Court of Appeals.
Concerns with the quality of care O'Bleness patients received were not a factor in the decision to end the contract with OUCOM, Brose said. Brose said he thought the Emergency Department staff under the old contract provided service that was up to standards.
Only three OUCOM faculty members were working in the O'Bleness Emergency Department when the contract expired. Two of the workers retired, and the other is continuing to work in the department.
OUCOM students will continue to train in the Emergency Department at O'Bleness and the new EPS staff is working to ensure that the training students receive is exceptional, Brose said.
OUCOM's faculty needs will still be met (by O'Bleness) he said.
O'Bleness officials are happy with the work EPS has done so far, Howe said.
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