Ascension Wisconsin will outsource staffing of its hospital intensive care units to TeamHealth, a physician staffing firm based in Tennessee, beginning Sept. 1.
Ascension Wisconsin plans to transition from multiple critical care contractors and models to a single group of intensivists through TeamHealth, which is owned by New York-based private equity firm Blackstone.
“Ascension Wisconsin is adapting critical care services across our health system to better align staffing and resources to match the acuity level of the patients our hospitals treat,” an Ascension spokesperson said.
Ascension is still developing the final coverage plan. The current plan “is for all of our acute care hospitals to have providers on site around the clock and 24/7 access to intensivists,” an Ascension spokesperson said.
“Following a robust and competitive RFP process, we selected TeamHealth due to their capacity to provide comprehensive intensivist services across the entire Ascension Wisconsin footprint,” an Ascension spokesperson said. “These updates to our care model are designed to enhance care coordination as we continue to provide quality, compassionate care that meets the needs of our communities.”
Some Ascension doctors and nurses are worried that the new TeamHealth model will threaten the safety of patients, according to reporting by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has sent a letter calling on Ascension Wisconsin President and CEO Daniel Jackson to reconsider this transition to TeamHealth, according to a Friday news release from Baldwin’s office.
“I am concerned that Ascension’s cost-cutting measures will once again come at the expense of patients and will leave Milwaukee hospitals’ intensive care units without enough physicians to care for some of the area’s sickest patients, including those recovering from major surgery or severe burns,” Baldwin said in the letter to Jackson. “I ask that you put patients first and reconsider Ascension Wisconsin’s partnership with TeamHealth.”
Ascension Wisconsin facilities include the Columbia St. Mary’s hospital campus on the East Side of Milwaukee, St. Francis Hospital on the city’s south side and St. Joseph Hospital on the north side.
