Emergency-room nurses at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park are concerned a transition to new ER doctors may be adversely affecting the quality of patient care.
Park Nicollet’s Methodist Hospital replaced all 21 ER doctors on Jan. 1 with 10 physicians from the for-profit company EmCare Inc., of Dallas. The change ended a 35-year relationship with the nonprofit Emergency Physicians group. It’s also created tension between nursing staff and administration.
“Change is always hard, but this has been an especially tough transition,” said Jan Rabbers, spokesperson for Minnesota Nurses Association. “The nurses believe there was inadequate orientation and not enough doctors contracted. As a result patient care is not up to their standards.”
Nurses have met with hospital officials three times expressing anxiety with the length of emergency-room waits and an overall decrease in the quality of patient care.
Dr. Samuel Carlson, chief medical officer for Park Nicollet Health Services, said the hospital’s primary concern has always been for the care and safety of patients and that’s still the case.
“Any change is difficult and requires attention, but we have no concerns that it’s caused a change in care,” said Carlson.
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