LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – University Medical Center and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center are exchanging public statements about OB-GYN services following the recent departure of two doctors.
Summary of UMC statement
UMC CEO Mark Funderburk published a statement titled a public notice on the hospital’s social media.
Funderburk said UMC wanted to establish its own OB-GYN practice in 2021. Doctors must hold what is called a “clinical faculty appointment” from the Texas Tech School of Medicine to practice at UMC and those appointments were granted to Dr. Amy Richard and Dr. Amber Coon.
But Funderburk said when the two doctors recently resigned, the School of Medicine told UMC it will no longer grant clinical faculty appointments to replace them.
Funderburk said he is hopeful a solution will emerge to meet what he described as a need for these services.
Summary of Texas Tech statement
The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center said UMC violated state law when it hired the two doctors in 2021, and that the School of Medicine ultimately granted the clinical faculty appointments to accommodate them.
The School of Medicine said UMC is undermining recruitment efforts by trying to hire doctors in violation of law and a master coordinating agreement between the two institutions.
Texas Tech said the land UMC is on was deeded from the university under the promise it would be a teaching hospital, and that UMC has abandoned efforts to fulfill the deed.
Texas Tech said it is recruiting and retaining new doctors, including holding conversations with Richard and Coon about new employment opportunities.
You can read the full statements from UMC and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center below.
Full statement from UMC
Ladies and Gentlemen of our Community,
I’d like to add some much-needed clarity regarding the practice of OB/GYN services at UMC. Since our inception, UMC has fulfilled a legislative mandate to care for the citizens of Lubbock County. UMC also serves as a teaching hospital for the learners of TTUSOM (School of Medicine).
Physicians who practice throughout UMC Health System are either:
Employed by TTUSOM to practice within UMC Hospital,
Employed by UMC / UMC Physicians to practice, mainly in primary care settings, or
Community physicians in private practice who perform procedures / provide care at UMC.
Regardless, all physicians must:
Be credentialed – i.e. background & qualifications verified – by UMC to practice medicine.
Hold privileges – i.e. authorization – to practice their scope of practice at UMC.
Whereas these requirements are common to every hospital, the following is not:
100% of doctors who practice at UMC Hospital(s) and Urgent Care Clinic(s) must hold a Clinical Faculty Appointment, granted only by TTUSOM.
What does this mean for OB/GYN services?
In 2021, to improve access to OB/GYN care, UMC requested that TTUSOM allow UMC Physicians to establish their own OB/GYN practice. TTUSOM granted Clinical Faculty Appointments to Dr. Richards and Dr. Coon. Upon their recent resignations, TTUSOM notified UMC Physicians it will no longer grant these necessary Clinical Faculty Appointments to replace Dr. Richards and Dr. Coon as employees of UMC Physicians.
As a result, UMC Physicians can no longer provide their own OB/GYN practices to help meet this need in our community.
Texas Tech Health Sciences Center stated they remain “committed to expanded access to OB/GYN care by partnering with UMC…however, UMC prefers to retain control of a separate obstetrics practice.”
UMC stands firm on this: Clearly, there is adequate demand and need for both TTUSOM and UMC Physicians to offer OB/GYN services within our community and region.
I believe and am hopeful that a solution will emerge as discussions continue. We are working diligently to improve OB/GYN access for our community, now and for the long term.
Mark Funderburk, CEO & President
Full statement from TTUHSC
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) and Texas Tech Physicians (TTP) have been actively engaged in conversations with University Medical Center to deliver solutions that benefit the patients in Lubbock County. State law is very clear that University Medical Center is only allowed to hire hospital-based physicians in three specialties: radiology, emergency medicine and hospitalists (special district local law sec. 1053.0601).
In 2021, University Medical Center violated state law and the Master Coordinating Agreement by hiring two OB/GYNs. The TTUHSC School of Medicine (SOM) ultimately granted Clinical Faculty Appointments to Dr. Amy Richards and Dr. Amber Coon because they had left their prior employment.
After the physicians’ recent resignations, University Medical Center sought to fill those positions and additional positions in violation of the law and the Master Coordinating Agreement. These efforts by University Medical Center directly undermine the recruitment efforts TTUHSC SOM already has underway. Those efforts have always been in cooperation and collaboration with University Medical Center. Despite these recent resignations, TTUHSC SOM has successfully recruited and retained new physicians to increase access to care. In addition, TTUHSC engaged in conversations with Dr. Richards and Dr. Coon to explore employment opportunities.
University Medical Center Hospital operates on land that TTUHSC deeded to them and University Medical Center has always been viewed as a teaching hospital on this land. The original legislation that allowed TTUHSC to deed land to University Medical Center was passed by the Texas Legislature in 1969. In that legislation and the corresponding deed, the land conveyed from TTUHSC to University Medical Center requires the nearly 20 acres to be used “for teaching and other related hospital facilities of the Medical School of Texas Technological College and said hospital district.” The legislation and the deed also mandate that if the deeded land is not used for teaching hospital purposes, the land shall revert to TTUHSC.
In its negotiations with University Medical Center over the Master Coordinating Agreement, TTUHSC wants to ensure that the intent of the original legislation and the terms of the deed are being fulfilled. It is imperative that state law be followed and our agreement be honored so the highest quality of care continues to be provided to our community. Regrettably, University Medical Center has abandoned those efforts.
Throughout it all, TTUHSC has remained focused on expanding access to care for the women of Lubbock and West Texas. In Lubbock, TTUHSC has 26 faculty focused on women’s health specialties, including 12 obstetricians. Of those 26 faculty, 18 have joined TTP in the past two years, and providers are accepting new patients.
Today, TTUHSC is training 14 OB/GYN residents and 45 family medicine residents in obstetric care. They represent the next generation of physicians who will care for women, deliver babies and support families.
From 1969 to today and into the future, TTUHSC remains committed to the vision that established our esteemed university and will continue to expand access to healthcare through academic medicine.
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