Becker's Hospital Review

67 FINANCE CMO / CARE DELIVERY Mass General ordered to release report on concurrent surgeries By Alia Paavola A judge has ordered Boston-based Mas- sachusetts General Hospital to release a secret report that investigated instances of concurrent surgeries at the facility, according to e Boston Globe. e report was written in 2011 by a lawyer who was hired by the hospital to investigate the safe- ty and business implications of letting some sur- geons oversee more than one operation at a time. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Rosemary Connolly ruled Mass General must share an unredacted copy of the report with a former orthopedic surgeon who claims he was fired in 2015 for complaining about the practice of concurrent surgeries. Dennis Burke, MD, who now practices at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton (Mass.) worked for Mass General for 35 years until he was let go in 2015. e hospital said it fired him for improperly releasing patient records, with names redacted, to a newspaper. Dr. Burke claims the hospital fired him because he complained about the safety risks of double-booking surgeries. In 2011, Mass General hired a lawyer to investigate Dr. Burke's concerns about concurrent surgeries. e hospital never released the report written by the lawyer. Dr. Burke's attorneys have requested access to the report several times, but Mass Gen- eral says it is protected by attorney-client privilege because it contains legal advice to the hospital. e judge rejected Mass General's attempts to pro- tect the report, arguing that the hospital hired the lawyer to conduct an internal review, not provide legal advice, and said that the hospital shared the report with a public relations firm that it hired to respond to issues of double-booking surgeries. "MGH has used the report as both sword and shield," Ms. Connolly wrote in her ruling, accord- ing to the Globe. "Mounting evidence all leads to the conclusion that even if sections of the Stern report were once privileged, they no longer are." Mass General declined the Globe's request for comment. n Obstetrician shortage forces New York hospital to end delivery services By Gabrielle Masson H udson, N.Y.-based Columbia Memorial Hospital stopped delivering babies Oct. 1 due to a shortage of obstetricians, according to CBS 6. "This was not a fiscal decision," William Slyke, a spokesperson for the hospital, told CBS 6. He said it was "impossible to recruit and retain OBs." Approximately 300 babies are born at Columbia Memorial each year, with other hospitals' delivery rate double or triple that, according to Mr. Slyke. Mr. Slyke said a declining birth rate in Columbia County, N.Y., affected the hospital's ability to retain physicians, according to CBS 6. The hospital continues to offer pre- and postnatal services, and is working with patients to develop birth plans that include transportation to Colum- bia's affiliate hospital, Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center, which is about an hour away, Mr. Slyke told CBS 6. n Nurse sues Tennessee hospital over patient attack By Ayla Ellison A nurse practitioner filed a lawsuit against Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., alleging the hospital failed to protect her from a violent patient last year, according to local TV station WMC 5. Angelos Washington is accused of attacking several nurses at two Mem- phis hospitals last year. One of those nurses, Bobby Stewart, filed a civil suit against Baptist Memorial Hospital. She claims the hospital failed to initiate procedures it had in place to protect workers and has taken no responsibil- ity for the attack, according to the report. Mr. Washington allegedly hit Ms. Stewart twice while in the ER at Baptist Me- morial. He broke her hand and two bones in her neck, according to the report. The lawsuit alleges Mr. Washington was known to be a problem at Baptist Me- morial. The physician who treated Ms. Stewart after the attack said Mr. Washing- ton had threatened to kill him the year prior, Ms. Stewart told WMC 5. Regarding the lawsuit, Baptist Hospital released the following statement to WMC 5: "We empathize with the concerns Ms. Stewart has raised, however for obvi- ous reasons, we do not comment on pending litigation. We are firmly com- mitted to protecting all team members, patients and visitors in our facilities. Unfortunately this is an issue that hospitals around the country are facing because we all must treat every patient who comes to our ER. We are doing everything we can to solve it, including providing training to all our staff, including our security team. We are thankful that Ms. Stewart continues to work in our ER despite this incident." n

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