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| Feb 21, 2008 - N.C. Service to Provide Orthopedic Surgery Services in Parkersburg |
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Camden-Clark has arranged for Delphi Healthcare Partners Inc. to provide it with around-the-clock orthopedic emergency surgical coverage. By Linda Harris A North Carolina company specializing in managing hospital-based physician practices will help Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital in Parkersburg re-establish its orthopedic emergency surgery program. Camden-Clark has arranged for Delphi Healthcare Partners Inc., based in Morrisville, N.C., to provide it with around-the-clock orthopedic emergency surgical coverage. Having that coverage in place will enable the hospital to regain its Level 3 trauma designation, lost early in January when its former orthopedic surgical specialist, First-Settlement, resigned. The coverage crisis at Camden-Clark spilled over to nearby St. Joseph's Hospital, though it still has two orthopedic surgeons on its active medical staff. Prior to the crisis, each was on call 10 days of every month and took turns answering calls the remaining 10 days. But with no orthopedic surgeons available at Camden-Clark, they were quickly overtaxed, resulting in St. Joseph's also losing its Level 3 status on those 10 days. "This is major, not just for Camden-Clark but for the entire community," Camden-Clark spokesman Greg Smith said. "It puts us in a position to regain and have Level 3 trauma coverage, and it's a very unique, totally different partnership. "... It's important that people can receive the health care they need in the area, in the region where they need it," Smith said. The deal brings three orthopedic surgical specialists to the mid-Ohio Valley to staff an on-site clinic, each of whom also will be on call 10 days of every month. Delphi will recruit and assign the physicians, who, Smith said, will have the clinical and managerial experience required to staff the on-site clinic and be on call. Smith said officials expect the new service to be in place by July 1. Charles Neal, Delphi's vice president of business development, said Delphi specializes in "establishing and managing" hospital-based medical practices. He said it has a similar agreement to provide general surgery coverage at Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston. "We're delighted to have our first orthopedic program in West Virginia," he said. "We have others, but this is our first in West Virginia. It's a great opportunity to bring significantly enhanced clinical outcomes to orthopedic surgical services at the hospital; that's our primary goal, to enhance clinical outcomes for emergency patients." Reprinted with permission of The State Journal. Copyright 2008 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. The State Journal http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=35083 |
