GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — College of Michigan Well being-West informed sufferers it’s closing a rheumatology program attributable to lengthy wait occasions and lack of entry. In an inside electronic mail obtained by Information 8, the medical group president described a “damaged” specialty and described a division struggling to work with the group.
The middle, positioned at 4055 Cascade Rd. SE in Grand Rapids, will shut on Oct. 31. The medical group revealed the information to sufferers in a letter dated July 15.
Debbie Bukovietski of Kentwood has seen rheumatologists the world over for practically 50 years. When she heard the U-M Well being-West rheumatology program would shut, she couldn’t consider it.
“I used to be heartbroken,” Bukovietski informed Information 8. “I used to be heartbroken as a result of this explicit physician group … is superb.”
“They pay attention properly,” she went on to say. “They’ve labored with me, properly with my daughter, and I do know different sufferers who’ve been there.”
After a report published on Sept. 19, Information 8 has heard from a number of different sufferers and employees members upset over the choice. One employees member despatched Information 8 an inside electronic mail that medical group president Raki Pai wrote to his colleagues. One other employee confirmed the word’s authenticity.
Within the electronic mail, Pai acknowledged the potential ramifications of the closure.
“Regrettably, it will have an antagonistic influence on Rheumatologic affected person care in our neighborhood,” Pai wrote. “It will likely be disruptive for our sufferers. Simply know, these challenges made this resolution extremely troublesome, however it’s the proper resolution for the group.”
Rheumatologists do important work for sufferers, treating autoimmune and inflammatory ailments that may have an effect on joints, muscle tissue, tendons, blood vessels, the pores and skin and extra. It’s remedy that may final all through individuals’s lives.
Bukovietski stated that rheumatology is “notoriously underfunded.” She added that discovering physician is crucial as a result of it’s somebody sufferers see for a very long time.
“That’s the factor about rheumatologists: they’re not only one and executed … they’re with you for this lengthy slog for this lengthy journey,” Bukovietski stated.
EMAIL: ‘WE STRUGGLED TO FIND COMMON GROUND’
Notably, Pai stated, “we struggled to seek out widespread floor and compromise in working along with the division.”
“As we deliver new scientific companies to our system, these new service traces will work greatest when management, main care and specialty care physicians work carefully collectively to help our established well being system sufferers,” Pai wrote.
In a press release earlier this week, a spokesperson for the medical group informed Information 8 the choice to shut “turned crucial attributable to lengthy wait occasions resulting in an absence of entry.”
“All selections at UM Well being-West are primarily based on what’s greatest for our sufferers,” the spokesperson stated.
Within the inside electronic mail, Pai known as Rheumatology a “damaged medical specialty” with not sufficient physicians to fulfill excessive demand. He stated new sufferers needed to wait “many months to a yr to be seen.”
“As lots of you already know, this can be a difficult time for Rheumatology throughout the nation and in west Michigan,” Pai wrote.
Bukovietski doesn’t agree with the logic of closing this system.
“I don’t see how lengthy wait occasions means let’s simply shut the entire thing down,” she stated. “It looks as if a particularly illogical response to me to close down a clinic of rheumatologists.”
Pai informed his colleagues he acknowledges “that is troublesome information to obtain.” However with these challenges during the last 4 years, Pai stated they don’t see a viable path ahead for the clinic. He additionally assured employees that no additional clinic or service line closures are deliberate.
The medical group informed Information 8 it’s connecting sufferers with different suppliers. It’s additionally preserving all current appointments main as much as Oct. 31.
“If sufferers have one other choice, we’ll assist them join with different applications that additionally can be found within the area,” the spokesperson stated. “Within the meantime, we’re coordinating communication between sufferers, their main care suppliers, and with their most popular rheumatology supplier to make sure a seamless referral course of. We’re working diligently to supply readability and to make sure a heat transition for each affected person.”
The group’s infusion heart will stay open, persevering with to supply that service for Rheumatology sufferers and others.
