South County Hospital faces crisis as dozens of doctors resign
by LEANNA FAULK, NBC 10 NEWS
There’s growing concern at South County Hospital, following the resignations ofmost of the hospital’s cancer doctors.
NBC 10 has obtained an open letter calling for a change in leadership.
“Many patients are understandably worried about who would treat them during potentially life ending illnesses,” said Dr. John O’Leary, who worked as an internal medicine physician for 13 years at South County Hospital.
O’Leary is one of 40 doctors, nurses and community members named in an open letter to hospital leadership.
“The management is pushing them to see impossible numbers of patients in short periods of time to generate income, which is unsafe for the patients,” he said.
The letter points to a wave of resignations in the hospital’s Cancer Center, and a critical service shortage leading to a backlog of cases and delays in patient care.
“The wait times are many, many months. That means patients go elsewhere. If patients go elsewhere, elsewhere, so does the revenue,” said O’Leary.
In a lengthy statement to NBC 10, the hospital asks for patience while they handle rising costs, low reimbursement rates and industry wide staff shortages.
“These challenges are not unique to us; they are being experienced by all healthcare systems across Rhode Island.”
O’Leary said these issues are forcing patients to seek care outside of South County.
“If these people leave, which they are doing currently, that means the future for the hospital is dire,” he said.
The hospital has a Live Virtual Community Forum scheduled for Sept. 16.