A new staffing contract signed by St. Agnes Medical Center will allegedly bar patients from seeing their current physicians.
Central California Hospital Medicine Group Inc. filed a lawsuit against St. Agnes in December, claiming the hospital violated state laws with its exclusive contract with national group Vituity.
The big picture: According to the lawsuit, St. Agnes told Central California Hospital Medicine Group that Vituity physicians will have sole patient access under the new contract.
- That puts over 150 primary care physicians on the outside who use the Hospital Medicine Group.
The other side: St. Agnes said in a statement that Vituity has already had a long-standing relationship with the hospital in the Emergency Department.
- The hospital said the transition to Vituity was seamless, and all hospitalist physicians are welcome to join Vituity to continue practicing at St. Agnes.
- Vituity will provide full-time onsite coverage with better scheduling and other benefits, according to a letter from St. Agnes attorneys in court.
- The letter stated that St. Agnes has encountered “significant deficiencies” with its current care, which undermined patient safety, increased regulatory scrutiny and resulted in hospital resources being inappropriately used.
Go deeper: The physician group argued in the lawsuit that St. Agnes violated its own rules by agreeing to an exclusive contract with Vituity, claiming that the hospital needs to get a recommendation from the Medical Executive Committee and a two-thirds vote from medical staff to move forward with such an agreement.
- The group said medical staff only had seven days to look over the deal, which was not enough time.
What we’re watching: Central California Hospital Medicine Group is asking the court for a preliminary injunction to temporarily block St. Agnes from the deal with Vituity.
- Both parties will appear in court for a hearing on the preliminary injunction on Jan. 29.
Zoom out: Vituity is a national physician group that has over 6,000 doctors serving over 10 million patients at nearly 700 facilities.
- New St. Agnes President Dr. Gurvinder Kaur previously served on Vituity’s board of directors.
