CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Nueces County will form a subcommittee focused on exploring hospital systems outside CHRISTUS Spohn in order to continue the Emergency Medicine Residency Program, Judge Connie Scott announced in a news release Wednesday.
Nueces County Hospital Board members will continue to hold discussions with the CHRISTUS Spohn Health System to gauge its interest in continuing to house the program past the current six-year agreement, which was finalized in December.
As those discussions take place, a subcommittee—made up of county commissioners John Marez and Brent Chesney, and community advocate Karen Urban—will pursue discussions with other hospital systems.
Concerns about the CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital System abandoning the residency program spread through the local medical community in October, as president and CEO Dominic "Dom" Dominguez told staff the hospital was looking to move on from the emergency medicine residency program and adopt residency programs for other specialties.
But instructors, other medical professionals, and supporters rallied around the program, saying without residents helping treat patients, local emergency rooms would be more crowded than they already are.
Nueces County Hospital District and CHRISTUS Spohn then reached an agreement for the chain to continue to house it for five years and gradually transfer the program over to the hospital district, an agreement the district tentatively agreed to.
However, after consulting with advocates and realizing that a five-year extension would shorten the three-year program's second term, the groups went back to the drawing board and ultimately agreed to a six-year deal.
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