Newport and EmCare

A New York Times article (published in the July 24 Seattle Times) revealed problems with EmCare, the corporation that Newport Hospital contracted with in early 2016 to run their Emergency Department and billing services. Tom Wilbur, hospital chief executive, was quoted saying, “The billing scenario, that was the real fiasco and caught us off guard” …. “Hindsight being 20/20, we never would have done that.

At a Sept. 24, 2015 Newport Hospital board meeting, there was opposition to Tom Wilbur’s proposal to replace Physician Assistants with EmCare doctors. My experience with Emcare and their disinterested and robotic contracted doctors (hospitalists) was abysmal. Others at the meeting described a “60 Minute” documentary that aired on June 13, 2013, and detailed the scandals surrounding EmCare. Other attendees cited a 2011 lawsuit and subsequent 2014 FBI investigation into EmCare’s history of ordering unnecessary medical tests and questionable billing practices.

With 10 minutes of Google time, anyone could have uncovered much about EmCare. If only Tom Wilbur had remembered the words of caution from those who spoke at the September 2015 meeting regarding EmCare and their hospitalists’ history, he might have avoided the anguish and costly mistakes of signing a contract with EmCare.

Gayle Cain

Newport