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More doctors depart Pratt clinic, support staff is laid off
The Fredericksburg area's largest medical center continues to get smaller as cardiologists and other physicians resign.Date published: 9/23/2003 By JIM HALL Pratt Medical Center cut its work force last week in response to declining insurance reimbursements and the departure of 14 more doctors. Ten employees at the clinic's business office were laid off last Wednesday. Robert E. Alexander, Pratt's chief executive officer, described the support-staff layoffs as painful but necessary. "A lot of health-care providers are looking for ways to cut costs," he said. Prior to the layoffs, 50 clerical and administrative employees worked at the clinic's business office on Fall Hill Avenue in Fredericksburg. The workers were invited to apply for existing vacancies, Alexander said. The downsizing did not affect any of the workers at Pratt's seven satellite offices, Alexander said. Pratt's roster of doctors has shrunk in recent years as the organization has gone through several changes in corporate structure. Nineteen doctors resigned last year, and 14 more submitted resignations since this summer. With fewer doctors, fewer workers are needed in the business office, Alexander said. In addition, the federal Medicare program has decreased its reimbursements in recent years, and Medicaid followed suit this year. Payments from private insurers are often tied to the government reimbursements and have declined as well. For patients, each physician resignation means that they have to switch to a new doctor or follow their doctor to a new out-of-town office. Pratt has a noncompete clause in its employment contract that requires a departing doctor to move at least 25 miles for one year if he or she wishes to continue to practice. The doctor can buy out of the provision with the equivalent of one year's salary. The newest resignations include the entire cardiology department and one of Pratt's busiest pediatricians, Dr. Allen E. Aaronson. Drs. Thomas E. Martyak and William M. Cicio have already resigned from Pratt's cardiology department. Drs. Robert B. Vranian and Thomas E. Wheeler will resign at the end of the year. Alexander said the clinic will continue to do cardiology tests and contract with cardiologists in the community to evaluate the tests. Alexander would not comment on Aaronson's departure, and efforts to reach Aaronson were unsuccessful.
Date published: 9/23/2003
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