Ousted doctors invited to apply for new jobs Ousted doctors invited to apply for new jobs (December 24, 2004)

Camino Medical Group starting new anesthesiology group

By Julie O'Shea

The head of the Camino Medical Group has announced his organization will soon be adding an anesthesiology department to its services and is encouraging El Camino Hospital's 19 ousted physicians to send him their resumes.

Rich Slavin, the CEO of the Camino Medical Group (CMG) called the contract dispute between El Camino Hospital and its anesthesiologists "unfortunate" and "disappointing." The dispute resulted in the removal of all 19 members of the hospital's longtime anesthesia group last month.

Slavin said he hopes the displaced doctors will consider working for CMG, which consists of more than 200 physicians and serves patients in Mountain View, Los Altos, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara. The group is not affiliated with El Camino Hospital.

CMG is planning to break ground next month on a new medical clinic at the intersection of El Camino Real and The Americana Way. According to Slavin, the facility will include four to five operating rooms and is scheduled to be completed in early 2007.

Slavin said CMG has established agreements with most of the big health care insurance carriers. He said the group's doctors have agreed to accept the reimbursement rates offered by the insurance carriers and not to bill out to patients.

Insurance reimbursement rates were at the heart of the El Camino Hospital dispute. Anesthesiologists at El Camino claim the reimbursement rates weren't high enough to cover the doctors' services. Thus, doctors said they were billing the patients the difference.

The hospital began receiving complaints from patients upset over the extra bills. Shortly after, the hospital's board of directors asked the anesthesiologists to stop billing the patients and accept the rates set by the insurance companies. The doctors refused, and on Nov. 20, the hospital ended the contract talks and fired its entire anesthesiology department, replacing those doctors with ones from a Fremont hospital.

Earlier this month, El Camino agreed to have a closed door meeting with its ousted doctors. In a brief statement, the hospital called the meeting "constructive." No more details were disclosed.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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