Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1439613
44 HEALTHCARE NEWS Washington hospital closing three outpatient clinics to address staff shortages By Alan Condon Y akima (Wash.) Valley Memorial is permanently closing three outpatient clinics to consolidate services and help address staff shortages, yaktrinews.com reported Nov. 16. e hospital is shutting down its Ambulato- ry Endoscopy Clinic, which initially closed during the height of the delta variant surge last summer so staff could be redeployed to take care of patients. Procedures performed at the clinic, such as upper endoscopies and colonoscopies, were moved to the hospital where they could be supported by operating room staff. "Aer carefully considering the best way we can offer these procedures in a safe, sustain- able, high-quality manner, Memorial decided to continue performing these procedures at the hospital while modifying the Ridgeview ambulatory surgery center ... which will also take on some of these cases in early 2022," hos- pital officials said in a Nov. 15 news release. e endoscopy clinic was in a nearby Yakima Gastroenterology Associates facility, which will remain open but will cease performing endoscopic procedures. Tanny Davenport, MD, physician executive of medical group operations at Yakima Val- ley, told yaktrinews.com that the move will be beneficial for patients because "we're resuming services that we had to earlier in the pandemic and increasing access so that they can get their needed colonoscopies or other endoscopies." Yakima Valley is aiming to perform 6,500 endoscopies per year, which it did in 2019, according to Dr. Davenport. In addition, the hospital moved Yakima Lung & Asthma from its previous location to Yaki- ma Valley Memorial Heart, Lung & Vascular on the hospital campus. e move will allow pulmonologists, who are also critical care physicians, to be closer to the campus should their services be needed elsewhere. On Nov. 22, the hospital also closed the Zillah Family Medicine clinic, with Jonathan Davenport, MD, its sole provider, relocating to the Pacific Crest Family Medicine clinic in Yakima. Hospital officials said they have no plans to close or consolidate services at any other out- patient clinics. n Michigan systems disbands 5,400-physician network By Ayla Ellison F ive Michigan health systems ceased operation of Affirmant Health Partners, their clinically integrated network, at the end of 2021. The following five Michigan organizations make up Affir- mant Health Partners: Saginaw-based Covenant HealthCare; Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System; St. Joseph-based Spectrum Health Lakeland; Lansing-based Sparrow Health System; and Kalamazoo-based Bronson Healthcare Group. The decision by Affirmant Health Partners' board to shutter operation of the 5,400-physician network was attributed to several factors, including changes in strategy among the five participating systems and reductions in CMS participation. "The work of Affirmant will long out-live our years of opera- tions," Katy Velton, interim COO and communications execu- tive of Affirmant Health Partners, said in a Nov. 5 news release. "Through our work, we helped participating health systems develop strong programs that will serve them well into the future as they continue their journeys in value-based care." The organizations that make up Affirmant Health Partners earned $75 million in shared savings in four years, according to the news release. n President, CEO of 2 California hospitals resigns By Ayla Ellison T he president and CEO of two Dignity Health hospitals in California has resigned, according to the Pacific Coast Business Times, citing an Oct. 28 statement from the San Francisco-based health system. Darren Lee resigned as the top executive at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and St. John's Hos- pital in Camarillo. Mr. Lee served as CEO of the two hos- pitals for seven years and had been with Dignity Health for 20 years, according to the report. "We appreciate his many contributions not only to the hospitals he oversaw but to the communities we serve," a Dignity spokesperson said in a statement to the Business Times. During his time as CEO, Mr. Lee led an $80 million con- struction project at the hospital in Camarillo and a more than $25 million modernization project of the Oxnard facility, according to the Ventura County Star. The health system is searching for a new leader to over- see both hospital campuses. An interim president be- gan Nov. 1, according to the Ventura Star. n