EDINBURG — DHR Well being knowledgeable the College of Texas Rio Grande Valley Monday that it’s unilaterally terminating the affiliation settlement between the 2 entities and ending its position as a educating website for residents and fellows from the college.
At the moment that partnership with DHR helps 135 UTRGV residents and fellows in a dozen applications. The hospital system mentioned it would honor its dedication to coach these people throughout a multi-year wind down interval for this system, and the college mentioned most residents and fellows ought to end inside that window. The college expects any who don’t end in time to be seamlessly accommodated at different amenities.
UTRGV President Man Bailey mentioned the termination didn’t come as a shock and received’t be terribly consequential for the college’s operations.
Rumblings in regards to the doable dissolution of the partnership had been reported to The Monitor way back to September 2020, and Bailey mentioned he was conscious the hospital system was debating ending the partnership.
A letter from him and UTRGV College of Drugs Dean Michael Hocker despatched Wednesday describes the termination of the six-year-old settlement as a part of the college’s “pure evolution” that “undoubtedly displays the truth that our healthcare mission not aligns with a for-profit, physician-owned well being system like DHR Well being.”
The chief query for the college is the place to place future residents and fellows. The letter notes that UTRGV presently has affiliation agreements with three different hospitals throughout the Valley and is discussing different doable partnerships.
“We’re doing issues proper now which I feel will allow us to handle that variety of slots,” Bailey mentioned Wednesday.
It stays unclear precisely why DHR determined to nix the partnership. Bailey mentioned he hadn’t been given any particular purpose, and the hospital system didn’t elaborate.
“Our main motivation is to make sure high quality medical schooling within the Rio Grande Valley,” a press release from the hospital mentioned. “DHR Well being will proceed to help medical schooling by our personal hospital educating applications or by partnering with different tutorial establishments.”
A spokesperson didn’t reply to questions on what led to the termination or whether or not DHR Well being has any concrete plans to accomplice with one other college’s medical college.
UTRGV’s medical college is about to proceed rising with out the partnership with DHR Well being. The termination notification got here simply 4 days earlier than the college will break floor on a brand new $145 million, 144,000-square-foot most cancers and surgical procedure heart.
The College of Texas MD Anderson Most cancers Heart will present oncology advisory providers throughout that program’s growth and launch.
The termination with DHR will necessitate some modifications. The letter mentioned the college is notifying the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Schooling, which granted accreditation for the residency applications, and can work with that group’s institutional evaluation committee throughout the transition.
Sufferers presently seeing a UTRGV-employed doctor at DHR Well being will see no instant change, however these providers will progressively be transitioned to a college website.
A standalone medical analysis constructing at DHR Well being leased to the college by a public-private partnership won’t be impacted by the termination, Bailey mentioned. “We are going to proceed doing that analysis there, proceed having a presence there,” he mentioned, describing that location as a thriving success.
Bailey and Hocker’s letter describes the partnership — whereas it lasted — as a win.
“The lives we now have positively impacted, and the applications we now have sponsored are all accomplishments which have helped us attain this subsequent stage,” it mentioned. “We want to thank the DHR group for its issues and recognize the academic alternatives afforded to our UTRGV resident physicians and fellows by the partnership, and we want DHR Well being nothing however one of the best of their future endeavors.”
