After Parker Hughes Clinic’s Closure, Some Patients Left Without Their Medical Records
By Jeremy Olson, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Apr. 19–The abrupt closure of the Parker Hughes cancer center in Roseville has left some patients without their complete medical records — something they’ll need as they switch to new doctors and clinics.
Phyllis Douglas, of Roseville, didn’t know Parker Hughes was closed until she showed up for an appointment and found a locked door. She called four times about her records, but nobody works there anymore.
Mary Olson, of Hugo, said she trusted Parker Hughes with her husband’s cancer care, and the news of its closing was like “being diagnosed all over again.” While the Olsons are moving on, the medical records they received from Parker Hughes are missing test results.
“I need them,” she said. “My husband needs them.”
The initial closing was supposed to be temporary until Parker Hughes could replace its only oncologist, who took a job in Illinois. A Feb. 19 letter assured patients that clinic staff would help them seek new doctors and transfer their records.
That support ended March 28, when remaining staff was let go. Attempts to recruit another doctor had failed, and the clinic’s debts were piling up. The only alternative was Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
The medical records are now under the control of a court-appointed trustee, Nauni Manty, who is managing the bankruptcy and determining how to distribute the clinic’s remaining assets to creditors.
Manty has hired Parker Hughes staff to help with records requests and has set up a hot line for questions.
St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood has agreed to store records of current patients, she said, while records for former patients will be kept in storage.
“None of them will be destroyed,” she said. “We are safeguarding them.”
Douglas and Olson said they were pleased with the treatment at Parker Hughes despite allegations that the clinic and its founder, Dr. Fatih Uckun, provided false hope to some patients and inappropriate levels of care. Those allegations in 2003 were the beginning of the end for Parker Hughes, which went from a growing research and treatment center at the time to an empty clinic with $4 million in debts.
Jeremy Olson can be reached at 651-228-5583.
Hot Line
Former Parker Hughes patients can call 612-465-0955 to request their medical records.
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