Unlicensed Surgeon
-
wrote on 26 Aug 2020, 18:36 last edited by
How stupid is this?
Tennessee hospital CEO says he was asked to resign after participating in surgery
Greg Neal told the Bristol Herald Courier he was asked to resign as CEO of Bristol (Tenn.) Regional Medical Center after participating in a surgical procedure without a medical license.
Mr. Neal stepped down from the role Aug. 20. He had served as CEO of Bristol Regional since 2013 and as president of Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health's northeast market since 2018.
Mr. Neal addressed his departure in an email to the Courier in which he said Ballad Health asked him to step down after his involvement in a surgical procedure.
"I agreed with their request and believe it was the right thing to do. After having served for nearly 30 years, I believe I owe the team at Ballad Health, Bristol Regional Medical Center and our community an explanation," he wrote.
Mr. Neal told the newspaper a surgeon recently invited him to enter an operating room to observe a surgical case and support the surgical team. He accepted the invitation.
"As the case began, the surgeon asked if I would like to make the initial incision for this surgical procedure. I regret I did so," Mr. Neal wrote.
"More importantly, I apologize to the patient and their family. I apologize to the team members of Ballad Health, and to the leadership of Ballad Health," he said.
Mr. Neal went on to say the patient was not harmed, but his involvement violated Ballad Health policy, and he accepts accountability.
Ballad Health initially learned about the incident after a team member used the health system's compliance process to report the issue, according to a statement from the health system. Once the issue was reported, Ballad Health said it immediately began an investigation, which concluded with replacing the CEO. Ballad Health named Chad Couch, MD, CMO of Bristol Regional, interim CEO. The physician involved in the surgical procedure also no longer works at the hospital.
-
wrote on 26 Aug 2020, 18:48 last edited by
What about the surgeon?
-
wrote on 26 Aug 2020, 18:52 last edited by
@jon-nyc said in Unlicensed Surgeon:
What about the surgeon?
Just says "he no longer works at the hospital."
I would've reported him to the licensing board.
-
wrote on 26 Aug 2020, 19:10 last edited by
I know that health system pretty well. They are pretty loose, but that’s outrageous.
-
wrote on 26 Aug 2020, 19:58 last edited by
With Doctor Jill Biden helping in the Oval Office this sort of thing won't happen.
-
wrote on 26 Aug 2020, 20:00 last edited by
Trying to manufacture a "right to work" test case?
-
wrote on 26 Aug 2020, 21:34 last edited by
@Copper said in Unlicensed Surgeon:
With Doctor Jill Biden helping in the Oval Office this sort of thing won't happen.
Yeah, she'll be able to teach them a thing or three.
-
wrote on 26 Aug 2020, 21:38 last edited by
It just shows how easy it really is to do surgery. Anyone can do it.
-
wrote on 26 Aug 2020, 21:40 last edited by
@Rainman said in Unlicensed Surgeon:
It just shows how easy it really is to do surgery. Anyone can do it.
Well, at least the first step.
-
wrote on 26 Aug 2020, 21:43 last edited by
Permissible for him to observe, with the permission of the patient and the attending surgeon. In writing.
From the far corner...
-
wrote on 26 Aug 2020, 22:11 last edited by
SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – District Attorney General Barry Staubus is calling for the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners to investigate the incident at Bristol Regional Medical Center that led to its CEO resigning.
In a letter, Staubus has deferred to the Board of Medical Examiners “to investigate any alleged criminal violation of Title 63, Chapter 6 of the Tennessee Code by Greg Neal, former CEO of Bristol Regional Medical Center.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Ballad Health confirmed the physician involved in the incident was Dr. Nathan Smith. Smith was fired following the incident.
Staubus asked the board in the letter to inform his office should they find any violation of the law that warrants a review by a Sullivan County Grand Jury.
I doubt the surgeon was fired. Most surgeons are independent practitioners and don't work "for the hospital." However, the hospital certainly has the ability/right to suspend privileges while the matter is under investigation.
-
wrote on 31 Aug 2020, 15:03 last edited by
https://www.physiciansweekly.com/non-physician-hospital-ceo-cut-after-participating-in-surgery/
Last week on Twitter I asked this question:
The 130 (2.5%) of 5,213 respondents who said they would allow a CEO to make a skin incision highlight the unscientific nature of Twitter polls. Restricting the voting to surgeons only is not possible. Many people asked me why I asked the question because surely no surgeon would ever have allowed it. Here is why.
Greg Neal, former CEO of a Bristol, Tennessee hospital, was asked to resign after having been involved in a surgical procedure. He is not a licensed physician. A local newspaper published his statement about what happened. In part, it said: “Recently, at the invitation of a surgeon, I entered an operating room to observe a surgical case and to support our surgical team, as many health system and hospital CEOs do throughout the nation. As the case began, the surgeon asked if I would like to make the initial incision for this surgical procedure. I regret I did so.”
The incident was reported to the hospital’s compliance program. Neal apologized to the patient, the family, employees, and management of the hospital.
A subsequent article by a television station said the attorney general of the district in which this took place has asked the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners to investigate the event for a possible “criminal violation of Title 63, Chapter 6 of the Tennessee Code.” The TV station also named the surgeon, Nathan Smith, and said he had been fired by the hospital.
Many questions arise.
What did Neal hope to learn by observing an operation? I can think of no reason for a hospital administrator to even be a spectator in the operating room. Contrary to what he said in his statement, it is not common for hospital CEOs to go to the operating room to observe a surgical case. The infection risk alone would not be worth it.
Since the patient apparently was not aware of the CEO’s presence, a HIPAA violation may have occurred. Back in the old days, it was common to have device salesman, pre-med students, and others to watch cases without the patients’ knowledge. Now many hospitals are requiring informed consent for anyone outside of the normal operating room complement to be present. Those hospitals that don’t require such consents probably should.
What was the CEO thinking when he accepted the surgeon’s offer to make the skin incision? Was he thrill-seeking? Perhaps an investigation will determine whether this was done on the spur of the moment or was it planned in advance?
Why would a surgeon allow a hospital administrator to make an incision on an unknowing patient? This was clearly unethical and probably illegal. In my 40+ years as a surgeon, I never heard of anything like this.
The scrub technician and circulating nurse must have assisted the CEO in donning a sterile gown and gloves. Did the CEO know anything about sterile technique? Why didn’t the OR personnel including the anesthesiologist question what was going on? I can’t think of a single operating room nurse I ever worked with who would have allowed this to happen. Was this the first time the CEO had ever been in an operating room? Was everyone intimidated by the presence of the CEO? Was the culture of the hospital not supportive of staff complaints about physician or administrator behavior? We know someone eventually called the hospital’s anonymous tip line, but why didn’t they feel empowered to say something in the moment?
Could the CEO be successfully sued for medical battery? A liability insurance website defines medical battery as “an intentional and wrongful physical contact with another person without that person’s consent that includes some injury or offensive touching.” Because the patient suffered no physical damage, I’m not sure a plaintiff’s attorney would take the case.
Whether the surgeon will be sanctioned by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners remains to be seen.
-
wrote on 31 Aug 2020, 15:27 last edited by
Wow that guy is really over thinking this. The surgeon wanted to have a giggly little moment with the CEO by letting him do a neat-o thing that he wasn't supposed to do. Does it need more explanation than that?
