CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Acommittee established last week to determine the community impact of phasing out Christus Spohn Hospital's Emergency Medicine Residency Program met Monday for the first time.
That meeting, however, was missing representatives from Christus Spohn.
Sources told 6 Investigates that Spohn CEO Dominic Dominguez was rather in Dallas meeting with Christus.
Those who did meet said they have one purpose, to ensure quality care is provided for Nueces County residents.
"If the hospital district itself has to potentially step up to maybe fund that with board approval of course, this something we have to look at. One thing we have to let the community know is that we are not going to let the community down. We're going to make sure that the quality of care is going to be there," Hospital District Board Member Arthur Granado said.
The Hospital District is reviewing its contract with Spohn. That contract requires the hospital to maintain two residency programs.
A representative with the district said Monday that currently Spohn is in compliance, but when the residency program terminates, it will not be.
Last week, Christus Spohn CEO Dom Dominguez told county commissioners the decision to end the hospital's residency program was based on a study from the American College of Emergency Physicians that estimated there would be a surplus of emergency physicians nationwide by 2030.
That study utilized data from 2012-2018, or pre-pandemic.
"They’ve already taken that back. What they didn’t account for was such a high rate of attrition of physicians in COVID. People got burned out, many died or are permanently injured," Christus Spohn Hospital Shoreline Emergency Medical Specialist Dr. John Herrick said.
The residency program in question is a three-year post-graduate program, with 12 residents in each class. In total, 36 residents and 16 physicians staff Shoreline's emergency room.
Spohn has said the program will be phased out by June of 2026, however, residents, physicians, and their families said the effects will be seen long before then. They said that impacts to the program will be seen when the next class graduates next summer and other impacts will be seen within weeks.
"The Medical Director told me that before the residency was at Spohn Shoreline, the wait time was 80 minutes. Once the residency moved there, the average wait time is 23 minutes as of right now," wife of Emergency Medicine Physician Marilyn Brodeur said. "It is terrifying that Spohn made this, in my opinion, extremely reckless decision to completely kill this program. These residents will leave unless a decision is made soon. If this program is not restored in a timely fashion it will die."
Spohn provides for the county's indigent health care through the Nueces Aid program. Residents who use Nueces Aid don't get charged for services at the hospital, and the Nueces County Hospital District pays Spohn millions annually for these services.
At Spohn Shoreline, the hospital saw nearly 28,000 of these patients in the last fiscal year. Emergency room doctors have said these patients will be impacted by the halting of the residency program.
"The impacts will be felt by the most vulnerable in our community. That would be the children, the indigent, the uninsured, pregnant women, and those with mental health disorders," Pediatric ICU Physician at Driscoll Children's Hospital Dr. Karl Serrao said.
Dr. Herrick said there is a 50% retention rate of residents who work in the ER. Last year, six of 12 residents stayed in the Coastal Bend area after graduating.
Those opposed to the cancellation of this program said losing it also means losing many care workers and their families, some of whom are dentists, teachers, and other community members.
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