The system contracted an outside staffing firm to begin running the emergency department in the Bismarck area next month.
After its emergency physicians rejected a contract offer this month, CHI St. Alexius Health found an outside staffing agency to run its emergency department in Bismarck, North Dakota.
The outside firm, HealthSource, agreed to the terms of a contract the system had offered to its own physicians on June 11, and it will begin staffing the department on July 1, according to a statement released Thursday by a CHI St. Alexius Health spokesperson.
"We reached this decision after weeks of efforts at compromise and to come to terms on a new contract with our current Emergency Department of approximately nine physicians," the system said in the statement. "Regrettably, we were not able to reach a new agreement with our ED physicians."
The system said HealthSource will contact the current team of emergency physicians over the next two days to discuss how the department's work will continue. The facility remains open and operational.
"While we were not able to achieve a new contract with our current Emergency Department physicians, we hope that each member will consider continuing to work at CHI St. Alexius Health through HealthSource," the statement added.
A local Fox affiliate station attributed the statement to CHI St. Alexius Health President Kurt R. Schley.
Long-Term Tension
This flare-up is far from the first between CHI. St. Alexius Health and its physicians. A long-running dispute over how the organization should be managed has made a number of headlines recently.
A group of doctors in Bismarck resigned from their committee roles last month. They called on four regional leaders to step aside and pushed for the divisional office to be moved from Fargo to Bismarck. Unrest spread to other facilities in the state, and the physicians remained unsatisfied by their leadership's stated commitment to dialogue.
Charles Allen, DO, FACOEP, FACEP, an emergency physician who had been serving as president of the medical executive committee before its members resigned in protest, told HealthLeaders Media in an email before Thursday's announcement that the physicians in Bismarck have been frustrated and misled repeatedly since Catholic Health Initiatives acquired their facility nearly four years ago.
Allen took issue with the way CHI Interim Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Tony Jones addressed physicians and their concerns earlier this month, alleging that Jones had accused the physicians of being "arrogant" in their interactions with leadership.
The system spokesperson declined Thursday to comment beyond the statement.
What Physicians Want
Allen listed five things that the providers want:
- A clear vision: The providers want to know what CHI plans both in the short and long term. "What services do they plan to cut and what do they plan to build on[?]" Allen wrote.
- Transparent decision-making: "There is no trust because of the multiple broken promises," Allen wrote.
- Quality and safety: Patients, physicians, and nurses are dissatisfied and concerned about the risk for sentinel events, Allen wrote, citing recent surveys.
- Better engagement: Allen described his fellow physicians as "loyal" and eager to solve problems. "There has been no willingness to truly involve physicians with the issues with authority or the checkbook," he said.
- Commitment to ministry: "Providers believe in the ministry that established this organization[:] 'Let all be received as Christ,'" Allen wrote. "Fargo leadership does not treat people like people."
The bottom line, as Allen sees it, is that physicians sense they are being managed with a cold hand from afar rather than being invited into the operation as collaborative problem-solvers.
"I truly believe if administration comes to medical staff with a clear vision, asking for help and truly engaging them you will find physicians that will volunteer endless hours to provide an environment they feel proud of," Allen wrote. "To tell them they are arrogant, can be replace[d] with locums does not do it."
Editor's note: This story has been updated to note that the CHI St. Alexius Health spokesperson declined to answer follow-up questions.
Steven Porter is an associate content manager and Strategy editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.