CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Time is of the essence as county commissioners and Corpus Christi-area emergency medical professionals -- past and present – attended Tuesday’s Nueces County Hospital District meeting hoping the board could be the CHRISTUS Spohn ER residency program’s saving grace.
"Please do not wait,” said Nueces County Pct. 4 commissioner Brent Chesney as he spoke during public comment. “Timeliness is important in this action."
The announcement of the program’s closure couldn’t have come at a worse time, say local medical emergency-medicine community members.
Medical students currently are interviewing with hospital programs to be “matched,” and with CHRISTUS Spohn staff saying they've been asked to pause recruitment, the program is at risk of not having residents to fill the program in June 2024 if interviews don't resume within days.
The CHRISTUS Spohn program usually has about 600 applicants vying for its 12 open spots.
"What I’m here to do is to, respectfully, ask this board to do is to act quickly,” he said. “With all due respect, we cannot wait and have community forums, because we are going to lose this program if we do."
Dozens of Corpus Christi-area medical professionals filled the board’s meeting room, pleading for its intervention in the matter.
"Now this decision to close the emergency medicine residency will result in the loss of 50 physicians -- both residents and faculty,” said Dr. Tom McLaughlin. “Please do not let this happen."
Nueces County Pct. 3 commissioner John Marez spoke during public comment, along with doctors, nurses and staff.
"I feel confident that the majority of the (commissioners) court will support the concept of supporting the emergency residency program," he said.
CHRISTUS Spohn Health System CEO Dominic “Dom” Dominguez remained vague as to whether he has decided whether to participate in talks to keep the program alive.
"I look forward to working -- if that is the will of the hospital district -- maybe on some opportunities here that we can look at," he said.
After going into executive session for about 30 minutes to discuss finances privately – the board helps fund health-care programs in Nueces County – it was decided CEO Jonny Hipp would continue “to negotiate and continue the conversation with CHRISTUS Spohn Health Systems to hopefully reach a resolution."
No date was set for a follow-up meeting, but 72 hours’ notice will be given to the public in order to attend.