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Doctors at Bergan Mercy Medical Center cast a vote of no confidence in Alegent Health administrators Tuesday night, the president of the hospital's medical staff said.
Dr. Martin Mancuso said the private practice physicians who serve Bergan think the administration is excluding doctors outside of its employ from decisions about the future of the hospital and the Alegent system.
“Physicians feel left out of the process,” he said.
Alegent said that it remains committed to high-quality health care and that the vote will “ensure that physicians have additional input into the implementation of the Alegent Health strategic plan.”
“No one cares more about our patients than our physicians,” Alegent President and CEO Wayne Sensor said in a statement. “They are facing enormous change and are understandably nervous about what it will mean to their patients, their practices and their livelihoods.
“I think we all understand and, frankly, share that concern.”
Mancuso said 80 percent of the physicians currently serving Bergan are in private practice. The vote of no confidence was 173-22, he said.
It marked the second time this month that doctors at an Alegent hospital have expressed a lack of confidence in the system's management or direction.
On Sept. 15, Immanuel Medical Center physicians cast a vote of no confidence in Alegent administrators because of concerns that their north-central Omaha hospital wasn't valued as highly as others in the system.
Alegent has been looking at ways to reduce the duplication of some services offered at its hospitals in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Its decisions have included consolidation.
Feeding the anxiety is the national debate over a health care overhaul, Alegent said.
“Given the environment, we were not surprised by the Bergan Mercy physicians' vote, which is why last week we set up a series of facilitated discussions to include the Board, physicians and leadership,” Leslie Anderson, chairperson of the Alegent Health Board of Directors, said in a statement. “We are committed to working through our physicians' concerns in a very open, constructive and productive way.”
Mancuso said many Bergan private practice physicians worry that Alegent is trying to move toward a hospital and system staffed primarily by doctors employed by Alegent, not those in private practice.
Those doctors think Alegent is doing so to have more control, Mancuso said.
Mancuso said private practice doctors have helped Bergan over the years by admitting their patients to the hospital and having tests done there. He said Alegent now seems to be disregarding the assistance private practice doctors have provided.
Alegent said many physicians who work at its hospitals support the organization's direction.
“The questions we are getting and the concerns we are hearing around the execution of our strategic plan are a natural part of the change process,” Dr. Fred Hosler, Alegent executive vice president, said in a statement. “I am confident we can work though their issues because at the end of the day, we all want what's best for our patients.”
The Alegent system includes Bergan Mercy in central Omaha, Immanuel in north-central Omaha, Lakeside Hospital in west Omaha, Midlands Hospital in Papillion and several others.
Contact the writer:
444-1122, michael.oconnor@owh.com
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