WVU Hires New Doctors: 2 Specialties Back to Nearly Full Staffing
By Cassie Shaner, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
Jul. 18–The WVU School of Medicine has hired new cardiothoracic surgeons and anesthesiologists to bring both departments up to nearly full staff, Health Sciences spokeswoman Amy Johns said Thursday.
And the leadership at WVU’s Health Sciences Center has begun meeting internally to address organizational issues that have developed as WVU’s academic and health enterprises have grown, according to a statement from Interim Vice President for Health Sciences Fred Butcher.
Johns said a total of 15 new faculty physicians joined WVU Hospitals this month, and seven more are expected to start next month.
Two cardiothoracic surgeons have been hired and a third should be on board soon, Johns said, bringing the department to a full staff of four.
A net gain of six new physicians has also brought the anesthesiology department to a nearly full staff of 35, with a new department chair expected to sign on soon.
“For the 2008 fiscal year, we had a net gain of 11 new faculty physicians. …,” Johns said. “We are still recruiting for several more surgeons in various specialty areas.”
Johns said she plans to issue a press release containing additional information about the new surgeons after the hiring of the third cardiothoracic surgeon is confirmed.
An investigation by The Dominion Post earlier this summer revealed that two cardiothoracic surgeons had left WVU in the past year. In all, WVU Hospitals had lost a total of 14 surgeons to resignation or retirement in the last year alone.
Staffing shortages had also affected the anesthesiology department, which had lost 22 anesthesiologists from July 2005 to April 2008, though 23 were hired in that same time period. At one point, the anesthesiology department was down to 17 doctors — less than half of the 35 needed for full staffing, according to department chairman David Wilks.
R&V Associates, a Pittsburgh consulting firm that was hired in February to evaluate operations at the university’s medical center and fired last month, indicated in an interim report that heavy turnover in the surgery and anesthesiology departments had affected the university’s ability to see patients.
Butcher has denied that WVU’s staffing problems have affected patient care. He has said that patients are not at risk when they are treated at WVU.
Restructuring
In a statement released Thursday, Butcher said administrative leaders at the WVU Health Sciences Center have begun meeting as a Joint Planning Group to address challenges and organizational issues related to the growth of WVU’s health enterprises.
In a memo distributed to Health Sciences faculty and staff last week, Butcher cited “increasing numbers of students and patients, increasingly complex procedures and facilities, a growing faculty, declining reimbursement, and the necessity to strike a successful balance among our various missions” as some of the reasons for the challenges.
He noted that the current structure of Health Sciences is not the most effective and efficient for decision-making when it comes to points where the facility’s four vital missions — education, patient care, research and service — intersect.
“It is clear that this situation has potential to affect a wide range of important activities — program development, faculty recruitment/retention, research start-up, interdisciplinary initiatives, etc.,” Butcher said in the memo. “These challenges require that we do a better job of integrating our academic and clinical operations in order to achieve and sustain excellence.”
In his statement, Butcher said meetings with faculty and staff began this week. Town hall meetings open to the public and press will be held as the planning process continues, and Intranet sites are being developed to post discussion points from each meeting.
Butcher said the planning group plans to develop a request for proposals soon, seeking a consulting firm with expertise and experience assisting academic medical centers.
Last month, Butcher said R&V was fired because of inaccuracies in its interim report and a failure to provide solutions to ongoing problems. The report detailed staffing shortages, financial shortcomings and leadership and structural problems across several departments at Ruby Memorial Hospital, WVU School of Medicine and University Health Associates, the university’s clinical arm.
In his memo, Butcher indicated that there would be no confusion as to the next consultant’s responsibilities.
“The consultants’ role will be clearly defined and limited to those areas,” Butcher said. “Our ultimate goal is to develop a proposal that can enlist broad support among all of our organizations.”
Butcher’s memo indicated that the target date for completion of a proposal is early 2009.
The members of the planning group are Butcher; James Brick, interim dean of the School of Medicine; Bruce McClymonds, president and CEO of WVU Hospitals; Jeff Neely, president and CEO of University Health Associates; and Tom Jones, president and CEO of West Virginia United Health System.
Johns said Butcher was not available for an interview on Thursday.
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