Valley Baptist doctors consider vote against hospital's leadership

HARLINGEN — Valley Baptist Health System officials would not disclose the results of a vote that nearly 150 doctors at their Harlingen facility took on Monday as part of an ongoing struggle over the hospital’s leadership.

At a meeting of Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen’s medical staff, doctors voted on two statements:

* to express support for 16 emergency physicians who recently submitted their resignation from the hospital, saying the loss of the group reflects “poor administrative leadership” by senior administrators;

* and to approve a “vote of no confidence in Valley Baptist Medical Center’s senior administration.”

“There was a feeling that this was an important matter” to vote on, said Dr. Karl Frey, an oral surgeon who chaired the meeting.

Earlier this month, Valley Emergency Physicians LLP, a group of emergency-room doctors affiliated with the hospital for 15 years, resigned from the facility effective in December.

A public outcry followed, with hundreds of comments posted on the Valley Morning Star’s Web site, as well as on The Monitor and The Brownsville Herald sister sites. The three news organizations are owned by Freedom Communications.

Many of the sites’ visitors said they were Valley Baptist employees frustrated with the management of the hospital. A few staff members have commented on the record, saying they were unhappy with the administration and its use of the Six Sigma quality-improvement program.

The doctors voted by secret ballot on the resolutions, and some were spotted marking “agree” to both statements.

But before the vote’s results were announced, the meeting was closed to the media.

Physicians who were contacted after the meeting either declined to comment on the record or could not be reached by press time.

As for Valley Baptist officials, they would only submit a statement from the hospital’s board of trustees.

“We hear the doctors’ concerns, and the board looks forward to working with management and physicians on the issues they have raised,” the statement said.

“Our main goal is for Valley Baptist Health System to continue to provide the highest quality of care for the communities we serve.”

In addition to the hospital in Harlingen and a nearby retirement center, Valley Baptist also operates a hospital in Brownsville.

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Melissa McEver covers health and environment issues for Valley Freedom Newspapers. She is based in Harlingen and you can reach her at (956) 430-6252.