Greenwood Leflore Hospital is no longer offering neurosurgery in what administrators are describing as a cost-cutting move.
The closing of the Greenwood Leflore Neurosurgery Clinic, set for mid-September, was first reported by The Taxpayers Channel.
One of the clinic’s two surgeons, Dr. Jimmy Miller, had announced months ago that he would be retiring Aug. 31 after 16 years of practice in Greenwood. Dr. W. Craig Clark, who joined the neurosurgery department in 2013, had planned to stay on board, but the hospital administration opted to close the clinic instead.
Neurosurgeons operate on the brain as well as diagnose and treat disorders of the nervous system. When the clinic in Greenwood closes, the closest option for those services will be at hospitals in Oxford or Jackson.
The decision to close the clinic was officially announced at a meeting of the hospital’s medical staff Wednesday. In a letter distributed afterward to the hospital’s physicians, Clark wrote that “our hospital and local economy are currently enduring great stress and economic hardship. The neurosurgery line is no exception. Hospital administration has decided that continuing to offer neurosurgical services is not sustainable in the near future.”
Clark said in the letter that because of the pending closure of the clinic, surgical procedures already scheduled had to be canceled and long-term follow-up care for some patients who had already received surgery would have to be suspended.
In a subsequent interview, Clark said he has been working without a contract since April 15 and had been told on June 10 by the hospital’s CEO, Jason Studley, that a new contract was going to be approved. However, on July 21, Clark said he was informed for the first time that there had been a change of mind and that the neurosurgery clinic would be shut down instead.
“Most of what was said was that this was purely an economical decision, and that’s why no medical input was sought,” Clark said.
He said he was told that the neurosurgery clinic was losing an unspecified amount of money and the closure “was necessary in order to keep the hospital’s doors open.”
The publicly owned hospital is under pressure to reduce its losses, especially now that most of its COVID-19 relief funds from Washington have been exhausted. Through the first nine months of the current fiscal year, it is showing a $10 million loss, even after using nearly $11 million in relief funds.
Other cost-cutting plans Studley has announced are examining possible reductions in COVID-related expenses, adjusting supply purchases to match current usage, reducing employee overtime and consolidating the hospital’s primary care physician practices into one location. At the same time, Studley said, the addition or expansion of some services is being considered.
Clark questioned how closing the neurosurgery clinic would help meet the goal of increasing the hospital’s income.
“The only way to generate revenue is really surgery and procedures,” he said. “It makes little sense to get rid of any proceduralist.”
Clark is also bothered that little thought seemed to be given to providing follow-up care for patients who had recently gone through operations.
“When you do complex spine or brain surgery, it’s not like deliverying a baby or something like that where there are three weeks of follow-up and you’re done,” he said. “A lot of these people get follow-up for up to a year.”
The plan had been for Miller’s patients to be handed off to Clark for post-operative care after Miller retired. Now, Clark said, he does not know what will happen, since “no other neurosurgeon wants to take care of somebody else’s patients who’ve already had surgery.”
Clark’s employment with the hospital ends Sept. 17. The 71-year-old physician is currently looking for another job.
With no neurosurgery practice left in the Delta, that could translate into a delay of two hours or more for people in the Greenwood area receiving treatment for traumatic brain or spine injuries.
The delay should be concerning, Clark said: “It could mean the difference between life and death, or between a good result and a severe permanent disability.”
- Contact Tim Kalich at 581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
