Cancer Care Docs Say Christus Hardball Leaves Patients in Limbo

Cancer services shakeup

Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center has moved to terminate its contract with New Mexico Cancer Care Associates at the end of next month and plans to create its own cancer-care facility next year, a decision the NMCCA says will leave 4,000 patients without doctors and treatment plans. The contract was set to close out at the end of the year, with a transition plan in place for the patients, but the early termination is creating turmoil. The cancer group declined to enter into an agreement to make all its physicians and staff employees of the hospital and turn over management of the clinic to Christus. The termination quickly followed, the group says. “It’s unreasonable that Christus would want to abruptly leave cancer patients without their chosen doctors at a crucial time in their treatment,” Dr. Karen LoRusso, an oncologist at NMCCA, writes in a statement. “As cancer doctors, we are deeply troubled that Christus has not indicated how they intend to care for these thousands of patients.” Hospital spokesman Arturo Delgado says the contract termination is part of the larger plan, noting “NMCCA let us know months ago of their decision to move away from their exclusive relationship with the hospital, and we have honored their decision. Therefore, we have initiated steps to engage in a patient-focused transition plan; however, they have not been open to those discussions.” Dr. Kathryn Chan, president of NMCCA, sums up her view of the call: “The message from Christus is that if you don’t want to work with them exclusively, or work as employees for the hospital, they don’t want to work with you, regardless of what’s best for the patients.” Chan told the Santa Fe New Mexican the cancer group expects to go to court to stop early termination of the contract if pending mediation is not successful.