No End Seen To W.Va. Docs' Walkout

On Jan. 1, 18 doctors began their leaves of absence, affecting three Northern Panhandle hospitals in West Virginia: Wheeling Hospital, Ohio Valley Medical Center and Reynolds Memorial Hospital. Another 10 doctors are also taking a leave from Weirton Medical Center in Weirton.

"Some of the surgeons on leaves of absence and representatives from the four affected hospitals met with state officials at the state capital yesterday, 4 p.m., for about two hours," said Tony Gregory, director of communications at West Virginia Hospital Association, a trade group representing 73 hospitals and healthcare systems.

"At this point, the governor has indicated that he will unveil malpractice legislation during his state of the state address next Wednesday, Jan. 8. However, I don't believe there was any resolution to the current situation," Mr. Gregory told National Underwriter.

More than two-dozen orthopedic, general and heart surgeons began their 30-day leaves of absence last Wednesday, while some doctors are also planning to leave within the next few days, he said.

"To show how it is affecting hospitals, Wheeling Hospital transferred two heart patients to a Pittsburgh-area hospital. The four affected hospitals also began reducing shifts of operating room nurses and other surgical support staff," Mr. Gregory said.

Mr. Gregory added that to help patients with physician referrals, state officials have also established a toll-free assistance number.

John Frankovitch, a senior administrator at Weirton Medical Center, said 10 doctors are now on leaves of absence from his hospital–down from 11 on Wednesday after one doctor changed his mind.

"This represents about a quarter of our surgical staff and all of our orthopedic and urology surgeons. We had to transfer three patients to out-of-state facilities," Mr. Frankovitch said.

Mr. Frankovitch added that he was disappointed at the outcome of yesterday's meeting.

"The governor's office did not offer any new information, and they were unwilling to share any details regarding any proposed legislation. We are obviously disappointed at state officials' response, and I don't think surgeons will waver until they see some meaningful response," he said.

Weirton Medical Center is currently working to reduce its staff hours, and if this crisis persists for a prolonged period, the hospital will have no choice but to cut back on staff permanently to deal with a decreased surgical volume, Mr. Frankovitch added.

"It was not a problem that was created overnight, but unfortunately the legislature has not dealt with it in the past few years. I think all the doctors, whether they are on leaves on absence or not, understand the reasoning. All of them understand the seriousness of the situation, and they are very disappointed at the state's response to date," he said.

Wheeling Hospital in Wheeling, W.Va., has also issued a statement supporting the doctors on leaves of absence.

"The physicians are citing the affordability and availability of malpractice insurance as the reasons for the leave requests. Currently, West Virginia is one of the nation's costliest states for medical malpractice insurance, which has driven one in every 20 doctors out of the state or into early retirement according to the National Center for Policy Analysis," the hospital announced.