Atrium Health CEO attacks 'fear-based' ads in contract fight

Atrium Health CEO Gene Woods this week fired back at a company suing the hospital system over an anesthesiology contract, the chief executive's first comments to reporters in the unusually public dispute.

Woods accused the company, Florida-based Mednax, of waging a "fear-based campaign" because an affiliate lost a contract to provide anesthesiologists to many of Atrium's Charlotte-area hospitals. His comments come as the affiliate, Charlotte-based Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants, continues to run ads critical of Atrium and has accused the system of jeopardizing patient safety.

Atrium and Southeast have been publicly sniping at each other since Atrium decided to drop Southeast and award the contract to a former Atrium consultant, who will take over anesthesiology services on July 1.

For instance, in a recent full-page ad that ran in the Observer, Southeast said it's time to tell Atrium "its business practices are not serving the best interests of Charlotte's patients, physicians and the community."

"There's no other way of saying that they are waging a fear-based campaign because they wanted to force us back to the negotiating table," Woods said. "They're afraid of losing this contract," he said.

In a statement, Mednax and Southeast defended the campaign, which has spanned newspaper ads and social media, saying it is intended to help patients make informed health care decisions.

The companies questioned how patient safety and care will be impacted by the new anesthesiologists being hired by the former consultant and who have never worked together. The new vendor is Scope Anesthesia of North Carolina, which was formed this year in Charlotte.

"Atrium Health and Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants have built one of the highest quality anesthesia programs in the country, one that took years to develop and refine," Mednax and Southeast said. "Why is Atrium dismantling such a successful program?"

Atrium, in a counter-suit for defamation and other claims, accused Mednax of rejecting steps Atrium suggested to lower anesthesiology costs for patients while maintaining the same level of patient care.

Despite the lawsuits, Wood said Atrium would like the doctors to continue working in its hospitals. Atrium has said that Mednax has threatened to sue if the new provider hires any Southeast doctors because that would violate non-compete agreements.

"One of the most painful things about this," Woods said, "is some of these anesthesiologists ... have been in this community for a very long time."

This story was originally published April 26, 2018 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Atrium Health CEO attacks 'fear-based' ads in contract fight."