CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for local doctors and county officials waiting for word on whether an Emergency Medicine Residency Program will remain in Nueces County.
Several things have to happen, however, for that day to come.
The Nueces County Hospital District’s board is set to meet next week to tackle the options for saving the program, with assurances that CHRISTUS Spohn Health System will agree to transfer the program to another organization, such as Corpus Christi Medical Center parent company HCA, if they don't want it.
To prepare for that meeting, the Nueces County Judge's Committee met Tuesday to discuss its preference for next steps in the life of the program currently run out of Spohn Hospital-Shoreline, including a 6-year deal.
Hospital district board member Art Granado, Asst. ER Program director Dr. John Herrick, director Dr. Alaiyna Tomanec are on the committee, along with county commissioners Brent Chesney and John Marez, and aim to have the fate of the program resolved soon.
"We see this hopefully resolved by the end of the year," Marez said.
Hospital district CEO Jonny Hipp is continuing negotiations with Spohn after tentatively agreeing to the first deal the hospital system offered, only to have it turned down by the district’s board.
That deal would have had the hospital district turning over somewhere between $15 million to $20 million to fund the program for 5 years.
"We do expect this program to be preserved,” Marez said. “And so we cannot afford there to be any hiccups or problems with continuity or transfer, so that's our biggest concern. We are going to continue to push this agenda."
After next week’s hospital board meeting, commissioners’ court is scheduled to be updated as to whether a final deal with CHRISTUS Spohn was approved, or if HCA could possibly be taking over.
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