Ironic
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:11 amThis rivalry runs deep.
AG tells ex-partners to behave
His letters ask Methodist and Baylor to end negativity, stop poaching staff
By TODD ACKERMAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
ABBOTT'S INTERVENTION
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has sent three letters to officials at Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital laying out the terms for ongoing negotiations aimed at ending the 1 1/2 -year-long dispute between the former partners. During the meetings:
• Any physician movement between the two institutions will be considered "an act of bad faith."
• Communications from any level that are "negative and critical by nature and adversely affect the other institution" must stop.
• The letter calls on participants to plan "specific cooperative activities, renew a spirit of collaboration and cooperation and set standards and parameters to govern the institutions' future relationship."
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has barred negative communication and staff poaching by Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital while he tries to resolve their seemingly unending fight.
In letters sent to the institutions before his office began convening meetings last month, Abbott suggested such contention is diverting the ex-partners from their public health care mission.
"The purpose (of the meetings) is to re-establish an environment dedicated to caring for the people you serve, the sick and afflicted," Abbott wrote on July 27. "(It) is not to provide a forum to fight about the past, substantiate or disprove allegations made in both directions or continue the same destructive path that has led to the involvement of my office."
The letter calls on a "joint cooperation committee" to plan specific cooperative activities, renew a spirit of collaboration and cooperation and set standards and parameters to govern the institutions' relationship.
The Chronicle obtained the correspondence through the Texas Public Information Act. Abbott's office initially declined to release the letters, claiming they fell within exceptions to the act, but acquiesced Wednesday.
Baylor and Methodist, partners for more than a half century, have been at odds since April 2004, when they parted ways, unable to agree on strategic visions. Since then, they've fought most intensely about who retains shared staff, with many doctors moving from one to the other and Baylor accusing Methodist of using its riches to "destroy" the college.
The meetings, which began in mid-August and are scheduled to continue until the end of September, mark the attorney general's first intervention into the Baylor-Methodist battle, a potentially ominous development. The last few times the office intervened in Texas Medical Center matters, it led to lawsuits, the reconstitution of one hospital's governing board and a new state law that requires hospitals provide charity care.
The letters contain no threats of what Abbott might do if Baylor and Methodist don't put a stop to the fight and one even stresses the voluntary nature of the approach, but officials close to meeting participants said the attorney general has made his clout clear. A 1942 Texas Supreme Court ruling gives his office "not only the right but the duty" to represent the public interest in matters involving charitable trusts.
The letters' warning against doctors switching employers during negotiations — they said such movement would be "an act of bad faith" — didn't apply to announcements in August that 11 Baylor cardiologists had joined Methodist's physicians' organization, Abbott confirmed Thursday. Hospital officials noted that those deals were signed before Abbott's letters went out.
The letters made a point to exclude Baylor President Dr. Peter Traber and Methodist President Ron Girotto from the meetings. The two have frequently exchanged testy memos about matters of dispute, though those stopped at the end of 2004.
Abbott's letters said that "communications emanating from all levels of each institution that are negative and critical by nature and that adversely affect the other institution must immediately stop."
Abbott's second letter, sent Aug. 3, also called for the meeting to produce a "truthful and genuine" press release that will advise the public of the commitment of Methodist and Baylor to resolve their differences.
He also calls for addressing disputes over lease issues, residency programs and doctor's hospital privileges.
The joint cooperation committee is chaired by former Harris County Commissioner Elizabeth Ghrist, a board member of the Texas Medical Center, the corporation that manages the 42-member medical complex. Three board members from both institutions fill out the committee — Mary Daffin, Connie Dyer and Dr. Stephen Wende from Methodist and Robert Allen, Paul Hobby and Terry Huffington from Baylor.
The committee reported to Abbott on Aug. 25 that it has made progress but has work to do before the Sept. 30 deadline.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp ... an/3335902
AG tells ex-partners to behave
His letters ask Methodist and Baylor to end negativity, stop poaching staff
By TODD ACKERMAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
ABBOTT'S INTERVENTION
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has sent three letters to officials at Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital laying out the terms for ongoing negotiations aimed at ending the 1 1/2 -year-long dispute between the former partners. During the meetings:
• Any physician movement between the two institutions will be considered "an act of bad faith."
• Communications from any level that are "negative and critical by nature and adversely affect the other institution" must stop.
• The letter calls on participants to plan "specific cooperative activities, renew a spirit of collaboration and cooperation and set standards and parameters to govern the institutions' future relationship."
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has barred negative communication and staff poaching by Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital while he tries to resolve their seemingly unending fight.
In letters sent to the institutions before his office began convening meetings last month, Abbott suggested such contention is diverting the ex-partners from their public health care mission.
"The purpose (of the meetings) is to re-establish an environment dedicated to caring for the people you serve, the sick and afflicted," Abbott wrote on July 27. "(It) is not to provide a forum to fight about the past, substantiate or disprove allegations made in both directions or continue the same destructive path that has led to the involvement of my office."
The letter calls on a "joint cooperation committee" to plan specific cooperative activities, renew a spirit of collaboration and cooperation and set standards and parameters to govern the institutions' relationship.
The Chronicle obtained the correspondence through the Texas Public Information Act. Abbott's office initially declined to release the letters, claiming they fell within exceptions to the act, but acquiesced Wednesday.
Baylor and Methodist, partners for more than a half century, have been at odds since April 2004, when they parted ways, unable to agree on strategic visions. Since then, they've fought most intensely about who retains shared staff, with many doctors moving from one to the other and Baylor accusing Methodist of using its riches to "destroy" the college.
The meetings, which began in mid-August and are scheduled to continue until the end of September, mark the attorney general's first intervention into the Baylor-Methodist battle, a potentially ominous development. The last few times the office intervened in Texas Medical Center matters, it led to lawsuits, the reconstitution of one hospital's governing board and a new state law that requires hospitals provide charity care.
The letters contain no threats of what Abbott might do if Baylor and Methodist don't put a stop to the fight and one even stresses the voluntary nature of the approach, but officials close to meeting participants said the attorney general has made his clout clear. A 1942 Texas Supreme Court ruling gives his office "not only the right but the duty" to represent the public interest in matters involving charitable trusts.
The letters' warning against doctors switching employers during negotiations — they said such movement would be "an act of bad faith" — didn't apply to announcements in August that 11 Baylor cardiologists had joined Methodist's physicians' organization, Abbott confirmed Thursday. Hospital officials noted that those deals were signed before Abbott's letters went out.
The letters made a point to exclude Baylor President Dr. Peter Traber and Methodist President Ron Girotto from the meetings. The two have frequently exchanged testy memos about matters of dispute, though those stopped at the end of 2004.
Abbott's letters said that "communications emanating from all levels of each institution that are negative and critical by nature and that adversely affect the other institution must immediately stop."
Abbott's second letter, sent Aug. 3, also called for the meeting to produce a "truthful and genuine" press release that will advise the public of the commitment of Methodist and Baylor to resolve their differences.
He also calls for addressing disputes over lease issues, residency programs and doctor's hospital privileges.
The joint cooperation committee is chaired by former Harris County Commissioner Elizabeth Ghrist, a board member of the Texas Medical Center, the corporation that manages the 42-member medical complex. Three board members from both institutions fill out the committee — Mary Daffin, Connie Dyer and Dr. Stephen Wende from Methodist and Robert Allen, Paul Hobby and Terry Huffington from Baylor.
The committee reported to Abbott on Aug. 25 that it has made progress but has work to do before the Sept. 30 deadline.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp ... an/3335902