Home Industries Health Services Report: Oncology doctors’ exodus has South County patients scrambling

Report: Oncology doctors’ exodus has South County patients scrambling

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PBN Staff

-

09/10/2024

south-county-hospital — THE RECENT DEPARTURE of most the oncology department at South County Hospital has forced cancer patients to scramble and find care elsewhere, WPRI-TV CBS 12 reported. / COURTESY SOUTH COUNTY HEALTH

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The recent departure of most the oncology department at South County Hospital has forced cancer patients to scramble and find care elsewhere, WPRI-TV CBS 12 reported on Monday. In August, a group of oncology doctors announced they were leaving the hospital. That was followed last week by an open sent to the

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SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The recent departure of most the oncology department at South County Hospital has forced cancer patients to scramble and find care elsewhere, WPRI-TV CBS 12 reported on Monday. In August, a group of oncology doctors announced they were leaving the hospital. That was followed last week by an open sent to the hospital’s board of trustees, lawmakers and state agencies. In the letter, a group of 40 doctors, nurses and community members called for changes in leadership, saying recent management decisions are threatening to erode the hospital’s future and quality of care, WPRI reported. They described a “lack of support and an adversarial relationship between executive leadership and providers, most recently exemplified by the resignations of the entire Cancer Center staff due to irreconcilable differences over issues directly affecting patient care. “We, the undersigned, express our deep concern and urge that the pressing issues facing South County Health and South County Hospital be addressed immediately to prevent systemic impacts on both the overall health system and patient care,” the group said. In an interview with WPRI last week, South County Health and CEO Aaron Robinson defended his record. He said a disagreement about the oncology’s department future led to the doctors leaving. The doctors wanted to merge with a Florida-based for-profit company, but South County executives determined it wasn’t a good fit for the nonprofit health system, he told WPRI. “They can say it’s a style issue,” Robinson said. “But at the end of the day, I think it’s more that people don’t like to hear ‘no,’ and we have to say ‘no,’ sometimes.” An unidentified spokesperson for South County Health, the hospital’s parent organization, told WPRI the resignations were “not something the providers or South County Health wanted to occur,” adding that three new providers have been hired and will start in October.