HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Expecting mother Allie Scaggs has been seeing doctors at Holston Medical Group and was scheduled to deliver her son in less than two weeks at the Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center.
"There’s a group of them that all would deliver at the hospital in Huntersville, so I had been making a point to meet all of them, so there would be a familiar face at delivery,” she said.
Scaggs learned over the weekend through Facebook the doctors will not be by her side.
According to HMG’s website, 35 physicians had resigned earlier this year. They were scheduled to stay with HMG until September. Now, it said after COVID-19 impacts on the health care organization, all 35 were dismissed Friday and 10 office locations closed. Support staff there were also let go.
[SPECIAL SECTION: TRACKING CORONAVIRUS]
>> We’ll bring you LIVE updates on Channel 9 Eyewitness News. Get extended coverage on the free WSOC Now app on Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.
"At first I was in a little bit of disbelief, like, ‘What do I do know,’" Scaggs said. "Then kind of went into panic (and) planning mode at the same time."
She said she was frustrated about the lack of communication.
The website said patients who were affected will get a notification in the mail early this week. Scaggs said she’s has not heard from the medical group at all.
"Especially those with upcoming appointments, pregnant women who are getting close to delivery, that someone should be reaching out to us with, 'Here are your options. Here’s what we’re gonna do for you,’” Scaggs said.
The note on HMG's website directs many patients to Novant, so Scaggs contacted the hospital and rescheduled an appointment.
Over the weekend, she was able to get in touch with her primary OBGYN doctor, who helped her work through her options.
A representative with Novant told Channel 9 they are contacting any patient who was scheduled to give birth or have a procedure done by an HMG physician at Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center to ensure they get the care they need.
Holston Medical Group statement:
“We know that at any time, but especially during COVID-19 this is a very difficult situation. We can certainly understand the concern and we share it as well. Our focus right now is to help offer every path available to us for patients to address immediate care needs. Most importantly, we want to note that we have set up a process with Novant for any patients that require immediate care - including, and especially for OB patients. Those OB patients simply need to call 704-316-4830, and primary care patients can call 704-384-1729.
We regret that these closures were leaked prior to when patient notification began. This was not the intended way for patients to receive this information. We've shared all available information we have through our website and have conducted phone outreach over the weekend to patients with scheduled appointments. We will continue that effort until all patient care needs are addressed. Patients will also receive letters this week that were processed for mailing on Friday.
Even though our Tennessee and Virginia offices have a larger presence and more established practice of more than 40 years, we’ve consolidated care for potential COVID-19 patients to a handful of locations and reduced hours of operations at many other locations, offering telehealth as a means to reduce exposure for patients, staff and providers in both markets. Unfortunately, the impact of COVID-19 has been more significant in the North Carolina market, causing a greater reduction in patient volumes. This paired with the fact that the 35 physicians had resigned and had a pending departure made this decision necessary.”
© 2020 Cox Media Group
